Expressing concern on the drought-like situation afflicting many parts of Maharashtra, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar on Friday urged the Mahayuti government to take the crisis seriously. Mr. Pawar also urged Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to call an all-party meeting in the next few days to discuss enhancing relief measures for the affected districts.
At the same time, Mr. Pawar, speaking in Mumbai, approved of the government’s stance in urging the Election Commission of India (ECI) to ease enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct in order provide relief to the drought-hit areas given that the Lok Sabha election process had concluded in Maharashtra.
“The rainfall situation is very worrisome. 73% of the State is under the shadow of drought The water levels in the dam in Sambhajinagar has plummeted to 10%. The situation in Pune is serious and the water stock in dams in other parts of Maharashtra is equally precarious. There is no politics here. We will cooperate with the government and it has taken the right stand in writing to the Election Commission since the polls are over in Maharashtra,” the 83-year-old NCP (SP) chief said.
He pointed out that as compared with 1,108 villages last year, as many as 10,572 villages and hamlets were being supplied water by tankers this time.
Mr. Pawar, who served as former Union Agriculture Minister for two terms (2004-14) in the erstwhile Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, demanded a stay on loan recoveries in order to provide relief for farmers while urging for crop loans to be restructured and made available immediately.
Targeting insurance companies, he accused them of dragging their feet over doling out compensation to farmers whose crops had been ravaged by unseasonal rain and drought.
When asked about the absence of Agriculture Minister Dhananjay Munde during a drought review meeting headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Sambhajinagar on Thursday, Mr. Pawar said it was “serious” if true said Mr. Shinde should take note of the matter.
Even as Mr. Pawar stressed there was no question of any politicking over the drought issue, Maharashtra Deputy CM and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis accused Mr. Pawar and the Opposition leaders of making statements with a ‘negative mentality.’
“Despite the election campaigning, the government has remained sensitive to the needs of drought-stricken villages and has ensured supply through tankers. The CM himself had taken a review meeting in Sambhajinagar on Thursday. I do not think it is right for a tall leader like Mr. Pawar to suggest that the State government is not serious about this issue,” Mr. Fadnavis said.
During his review meeting on Thursday, Mr. Shinde had said that the government was seeking finance from the World Bank for the Marathwada water grid project and was also pursuing the matter with PM Narendra Modi.
The Marathwada water grid aims to connect all irrigation projects in the arid, drought-prone Marathwada region to overcome the perennial water crisis here.
