Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday assured the legislative assembly the state government will follow-up on the proposal to set up a base camp of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in Raigad district, where a massive landslide killed 27 people last week.
He was responding to a query raised by Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Bhaskar Jadhav.
“It appears plans are afoot to relocate the proposed NDRF base camp (in Raigad) to Goa. If it is true, it will be an injustice to the people of coastal districts (in Maharashtra) who are vulnerable to landslides,” said the opposition member and sought to know from the government the status of the base camp.
Pawar, who also holds the finance portfolio, said, “The state government will look into the proposal and take necessary follow-up action for setting up a base camp (of NDRF) in Raigad district. There will not be any discrimination in providing assistance to (landslides) affected people.”
During the term of the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, then-guardian minister of Raigad Aditi Tatkare had taken the initiative to set up a base camp of the NDRF in Mahad town of the coastal district where large parts of Taliye village were wiped out by a landslide triggered by heavy rainfall in July 2021. Nearly 90 people were killed in the 2021 tragedy.
A massive landslide hit Irshalwadi, a tribal village located on a hill slope in Raigad district, last week, killing 27 people and fully or partially destroying more than a dozen homes.
The NDRF, a central force that works under the home ministry, spearheaded the relief and rescue operation at Irshalwadi, located around 80km from Mumbai.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI)