Send more NDRF teams, boats to flood-hit Sangli: NCP to govt

Maharashtra NCP president Jayant Patil on Wednesday asked Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to dispatch additional NDRF teams and boats to rescue flood-hit people from parts of Sangli district.

He said there is a need to provide additional relief assistance in areas located on the banks of Krishna and Warna rivers in the Western Maharashtra district.

Patil, the MLA from Islampur in the district, said he visited Walwa, Miraj and Palus tehsils and also villages which are besieged by water to take stock of the situation.

The former minister said scores of people and livestock are still stranded in rain-hit pockets and it was in the interest of the affected ones to leave their villages in view of the administration's warning that the water level may rise.

"The government needs to immediately increase assistance to rescue people from areas along the banks of Krishna and Warna rivers. The assistance provided by the NDRF is inadequate and rescue boats have not reached here on time," Patil said.

"I request the chief minister of Maharashtra to facilitate additional assistance from the NDRF," he added.

Over 1.32 lakh people have been shifted to safer places in Western Maharashtra with the flood situation remaining grim, particularly in Kolhapur and Sangli districts, on Wednesday following incessant rains.

In Sangli alone, over 53,000 people have been evacuated, a government official said.

Sixteen deaths in rain and flood-related incidents have been reported from western Maharashtra so far in the last seven days, officials said.