Central team visits rain-hit regions of Maharashtra, admits heavy loss

State government’s claim for the financial assistance of Rs6000 crore from the central government seems to have received positive response from the six member team that visited the affected area of the state.

The chief minister said that the team admitted the contention of the loss of crops and damages to roads due to unseasonal heavy rains.

An all party delegation led by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan met prime minister Manmohan Singh last week and requested the financial assistance of Rs5996.75 crore towards the loss of crops, horticulture, interest waiver and the maintenance of the state and national highways. The damage was claimed due to the unseasonal rains recorded in the month of October and November.

Announcing interim relief of Rs6,000 crore, central government had assured CM to assess the damage in the state by a committee of the central government. The Central’s team visited Konkan, Nashik, North Maharashtra and some parts of Vidarbha and Marathwada in the last four days.  The committee met chief minister Chavan and chief secretary JP Dange on Thursday at Mantralaya and discussed further several issues.

The chief minister, while talking to the media after meeting the team, said that the six member team admitted government’s claims of loss. “After doing extensive survey of the affected areas across the regions, it agreed to the loss claimed by us. It admitted that almost 90 % of the paddy crops were washed away due to the rains. The committee has demanded for some more information, which would be provided in next few days. The Central government would take final decision after the committee submits its report to the central government,” he said.

The state government has demanded Rs914.75 crore for the losses to the farm produce and horticultural crop, Rs450 crore towards interest waiver and Rs4,632 crore for the repairs of the state and national highways.