Mumbai Just about three days after being sworn-in as the new chief minister of Maharashtra, Eknath Shinde visited the disaster control cell of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Tuesday to review the heavy rain situation in Mumbai.
Shinde said that his decision to visit BMC was taken after the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a severe weather forecast for the next few days for the city. “We have shifted 3,500 people to safe places following heavy rainfall in many parts of the state. I have spoken with collectors of Raigad, Ratnagiri, Thane, Kolhapur, Sangli, Amravati district and have asked them to be on alert. However, the rainfall situation has changed since Tuesday morning as it has been reducing and water level is also subsiding at most of the places,” the chief minister said after reviewing the flood situation at BMC headquarters on Tuesday evening.
Following his review, Shinde said that the situation in Hindmata Junction was different this year, while earlier rainwater would accumulate even after a short span of time in this spot.
“Due to the pre-emptive measures taken by BMC, Hindmata junction was not flooded this year. Two water holding tanks have been created near this spot and a dewatering pump was also installed through which water could be channelled out,” said Shinde.
The chief minister also directed the administration of Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg and Kolhapur districts to be on alert and take preventive measures in case of floods. He asked the state administration to monitor the situation in Mumbai, which has been witnessing heavy rainfall since Monday.
“There are 25 spots in Mumbai which, in case of serious water logging, may lead to stoppage of railway movement. Therefore, I have instructed municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal to keep an alternate mode of transport ready in the form of BEST and ST buses,” he said.
Shinde also directed chief secretary Manukumar Srivastava to ask guardian secretaries to visit their concerned districts. “I have directed all the guardian secretaries to be present in their respective districts as they have all the administrative powers and this will help in taking swift action. They can have better coordination with NDRF, Airforce, Navy in case of an emergency situation and people won’t have to suffer if they are on the spot. We can avoid loss of lives as well,” Shinde told reporters. Secretaries handling various departments in Mantralaya are also given responsibility of each district as guardian secretary.