Will go beyond politics, stand by all: Aaditya Thackeray on Maha flood crisis
Maharashtra witnessed the worst flooding in a decade after 48 hours of unprecedented rains
Maharashtra cabinet minister and Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray said on Sunday the government will stand by every flood-hit resident of the Konkan and western regions of Maharashtra and not indulge in politics. Hitting out at the opposition for questioning the coalition government, led by Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray, over its handling of the crisis, Aaditya said it was time to stand behind the people and go beyond politics.
“If you're going to focus on the opposition, it's not something for us to do. The work for all of us is to go beyond politics. It's time to stand behind the people,” the state environment and tourism minister told news agency ANI.
Maharashtra witnessed the worst flooding in a decade after 48 hours of unprecedented rains in Raigad, Ratnagiri, Palghar, Thane, Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, Sangli and Satara. The official death toll from the deluge and landslide stood at 112, with 99 people still missing, while a total of 1,35,313 people have been evacuated so far from vulnerable areas. The state government has undertaken rescue operations in the most affected districts with the help of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Navy and Army.
On Saturday, the chief minister visited Taliye village, where around 50 people were feared trapped under the debris of at least 32 houses. Thackeray assured the affected people of rehabilitation and promised to ensure that no such incident happened in the future. “The state government will see that no such incidents will happen in future and even if they happened, no human life will be lost. To achieve this, the state government will have to rehabilitate all villages located at hillslopes and foothills. The residents of such villages will be resettled at safer places,” he told reporters.
On Sunday, while on a visit to flood-hit Chiplun, the CM said the state government will set up special disaster response teams along the lines of NDRF/SDRF in every district. He is scheduled to visit affected areas in western Maharashtra