Divisional Commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar conducts a tour of flood-affected districts on Sunday. (Express Photo)The residents of thousands of houses, damaged in the recent floods in districts across Pune Division, have been asked by the administration to move out of their potentially unsafe homes. The district administration has been instructed by the divisional commissionerate to make alternate arrangements for them.
Pune Divisional Commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar, who conducted a tour of flood-affected districts in Sangli and Kolhapur on Sunday, said both the Revenue department and the district administrations in Sangli and Kolhapur were focussing on restoring supply of clean drinking water and uninterrupted power, as well as providing items of daily use.
Mhaisekar said the officials concerned have been asked to conduct structural audits of government buildings, schools, cultural centres and bridges in the areas hit by flood.
“We are making efforts to open the schools. We have decided to provide material such as books, notebooks and school bags to children who lost these things in the floods,” said Mhaisekar.
A woman washes utensils in front of her damaged house in Bhilwadi in Sangli District. (Express Photo)He also assured flood victims that the panchnamas, drawn up to determine the extent of losses and decide compensation, will be conducted in a transparent manner.
“There has been huge crop loss due to the floods and we are in the process of assessing the losses,” said Mhaisekar.
Several areas of Pune, Kolhapur and Sangli districts, all part of Pune Division, were flooded due to heavy rainfall in the first two weeks of August. The floods claimed 55 lives, destroyed crop and property worth hundreds of crores and cut off road connectivity to several villages in Sangli and Kolhapur.
Road connectivity to most of these villages has been restored.
Donors to meet on August 21
Divisional Commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar has organised a meeting of individuals who want to donate money and other items to help flood victims. The meeting, to be chaired by Mhaisekar, will take place at the Council Hall on August 21.
“A lot of NGOs and private individuals have come forward to help the flood victims in different ways. We need their help… to co-ordinate the planning and implementation of this process, we have called for a meeting,” said an official.
