Following Karnataka’s request for interim flood relief from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Maharashtra government will also submit a memorandum seeking ₹3,000-crore package this week.
At a meeting on Monday, Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta spoke to senior Relief and Rehabilitation, and Revenue department officials to asses the losses the flood-ravaged western Maharashtra in which over 150 people have died. Sources said the Cabinet will review the State’s proposal on Tuesday. Senior officials said the destruction to human life and property is massive and may need central assistance at the earliest.
Karnataka meanwhile, has sought ₹3,000 crore as monetary assistance from the Centre before the final review of the inter-ministerial committee on disaster management on assessment and quantification of the damage. The process is reversed in usual circumstances. Maharashtra is likely to seek the same waiver. “We have finalised our assessment to damages, and will submit our memorandum soon,” said a senior official.
While Karnataka’s assessment of damages are based on losses in 2,694 villages in 86 talukas of 17 districts, Maharashtra’s damages, in the worst floods in a decade, have been reported from 70 talukas of Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Thane, Nasik, Palghar, Ratnagiri, Raigad and Sindhudurg districts. The floods lefts 761 villages marooned, officials said.
The crop destruction alone, officials said, could be more than ₹125 crore, according to preliminary assessment. While exact worth of damage would only be known once the flood water has fully receded, senior officials said around 27,468 hectare of agriculture land has been completely destroyed while the numbers could eventually touch one lakh hectares when the panchnama is complete, senior officials said. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said on Saturday that the total length of road damaged is 484 km, while 2,615 transformers are damaged partially or fully in the floods.
