Maharashtra Government Denies Delay In Seeking Flood Aid
Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) MP Supriya Sule had alleged that despite severe distress caused by months of heavy rainfall and crop damage, the state government had not submitted a proposal for central assistance.
Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Wednesday rejected allegations by the opposition that it had failed to seek financial assistance from the Centre under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for farmers affected by this year’s floods. State Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule released a letter dated November 27 and a detailed memorandum submitted to the Union government outlining crop and infrastructure losses caused by floods between June and September.
Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) MP Supriya Sule had alleged that despite severe distress caused by months of heavy rainfall and crop damage, the state government had not submitted a proposal for central assistance. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Omraje Nimbalkar also said that the Union agriculture minister, in a written reply in Parliament, had stated that the state government had not submitted any report.
Mr. Bawankule, however, said the state had written to Rajesh Gupta, Joint Secretary, National Disaster Management Authority, on November 27 seeking support from the Centre. According to the memorandum, Maharashtra witnessed “exceptionally severe and widespread flooding” due to erratic and heavy rainfall, flash floods, river overflow and breached embankments. Marathwada, Vidarbha, Konkan and Western Maharashtra were the worst-hit regions.
The report noted large-scale destruction of crops, livestock, homes, roads, bridges, public utilities and essential community infrastructure, along with disruptions to power, transport and water supply. It said the flooding also led to loss of life and displacement of families, and that the scale of the crisis had exceeded the capacity of the State Disaster Response Fund. The memorandum added that an Inter-Ministerial Central Team had visited the affected districts between November 3 and 5 for field assessment, after which the damage data was verified at the district level.
The letter requested the Ministry of Home Affairs to process the proposal “expeditiously” in view of the urgent relief and rehabilitation needs.
In September, the state government had announced a Rs 31,628-crore relief package for farmers affected by the floods, which damaged crops over 68.7 lakh hectares across 29 districts.