Eknath Shinde tours flood-ravaged Pune, assures all help to victims

Pune: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday went on a tour of the flood-ravaged areas of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad after heavy rainfall lashed the district and surroundings.

He went around the Sinhgad Road in Pune where the Army was called to assist the civil authorities and Sangavi and Shivajinagar in Pimpri-Chinchwad that have faced the brunt of the recent downpour.

Shinde, accompanied by senior leaders including Neelam Gorhe and other legislators, interacted with the people, gave a patient ear to their grievances and assured all help to enable them to resume normal lives.

"We are providing immediate measures to the people hit by the floods and the government will also formulate a new policy that can provide long-term solutions to the flooding problems," Shinde said.

He added that the blue flood line, which marks the flood levels over a 25-year period, would be reviewed to ensure proper management and mitigate the problems of repeated flooding.

In several places, the local residents poured out their woes, explained their problems and sought solutions that could bring relief from the constant bouts of flooding that they are enduring.

On Sunday (August 4), the Chief Minister ordered the concerned agencies to take adequate measures in several parts of the city as the dams like Khadakwasla, Mulshi, Pavna and others had started the discharge of excess water, posing a risk to the local population.

Among the areas for which an alert was sounded in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad were Ekta Nagar, Dattawadi, Patil Estate, Yerawada, Shivajinagar Court, Harris Bridge, Dapodi, Sangavi, Kasarwadi, Pimpri Camp, Balewadi Gaothan, Ravet, Baner, Bavdhan, Sangamwadi and other places.

Pune, Nashik, Kolhapur, Thane and their vicinity have been among the worst-hit by the recent heavy spells of rain in the past fortnight, disrupting normal life and affecting thousands of families.

Teams of the SDRF, NDRF, besides the Army are deployed in the Sinhgad Road area and surroundings that were flooded causing huge damage to the ground-floor homes, shops and commercial establishments.

Most dams in and around have been overflowing leading to the discharge of the additional water in the city rivers and drains that caused the flooding in the low-lying areas in the past few days.Eknath Shinde tours flood-ravaged Pune, assures all help to victims