Fadnavis blames Maharashtra Govt for Vidarbha flood, says 'not a natural calamity'

Maharashtra Opposition Leader Devendra Fadnavis called the eastern Vidarbha floods a 'man-made disaster' and not a natural calamity and claimed that the government failed the people of Maharashtra. Following his three-day tour of the flood-affected districts of the Vidarbha region namely Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, and Nagpur, Fadnavis spoke about how the flood affected the people and how the government failed to take any action. He also blamed the Maharashtra government for failing to coordinate with the Madhya Pradesh government which led to immense damage. 

Fadnavis: 'Floods not natural'

Former CM Devendra Fadnavis blamed the Maharashtra government for the flooding in the Vidarbha region while informing that over one lakh families were evacuated. Fadnavis also informed that farmers were left helpless after the floodwater entered the farms in the villages and caused immense damage to the crops. He blamed the government for their failure to provide relief to the people left homeless due to their lack of coordination.

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"The floods are man-made and not a natural calamity… What is more surprising is even now, there is no presence of government officials in the affected districts. The images of destruction caused by the floods are painful. Families with children have overnight become homeless. The promising harvest of soybean and cotton have been washed away. The farmers are helpless," said the opposition leader. 

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Water from the dams in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh had to be released due to the heavy downpour in parts of the states. Water was discharged from Madhya Pradesh's Rajivsagar damn and Bhandara's Gosikhurd dam and this led to the flooding in the eastern Vidarbha region. The former CM of Maharashtra blamed the government for not planning ahead in order to avoid the situation. 

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Fadnavis questioned the government for the lack of flood management coordination during the inter-state and intra-state meetings and not putting together a disaster management plan ahead of time. While expressing his anger towards the Maha Vikas Aghadi government for putting the blame on Madhya Pradesh, he asked who should be held accountable for the water that was discharged from the Gosikhurd dam in Bhandara. The former Chief Minister also demanded compensation for the loss suffered by the villagers. 

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