Declare Maharashtra flood man-made disaster, ex-MP Nana Patole requests Bombay high court
In a letter to Chief Justice Nandrajog, the ex-MP has asked that responsibility of inaction and delayed response should be investigated by an expert committee set up by the court.
Ex-MP Nana Patole has requested Bombay high court to declare Maharashtra floods as a man-made disaster. In a letter addressed to Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog of the Bombay high court, Nana Patole and Mumbai-based social activist Dr Sanjay Lakhe Patil have requested the court to take the decision under Disaster Management Act 2005 (Section 2-(d).
The duo wrote a letter to Chief Justice Nandrajog asking that responsibility of inaction and delayed response should be investigated by an expert committee set up by the court. This committee should also suggest preventive measures that should be taken in the future to prevent such disasters, they said.
In the meantime, a Public Interest Litigation has also been filed in the Bombay high court which also seeks that an expert enquiry committee for enquiry into the episode of calamity of flood and waterlogging in the Sangli and Kolhapur district and further to fix responsibility of inaction and violation of rule curve and mismanagement of water management in dams on Krishna River and its tributaries in the aforesaid district.
Petitioners Raosaheb alias Narsappa Annappa Alase and Rajendra Shivgonda Patil are residents of Kolhapur and have sought that the state and central government should take action against the responsible officers, public servants and other responsible persons for dereliction of duty.
According to the petitioners, the central, as well as Maharashtra government, did not follow the Guidelines for Preparing Operation and Maintenance Manual for Dams issued by Central Water Commission (CWC).
Krishna and Panchganga rivers pass through Sangli and Kolhapur and these rivers received above-average rainfall at the beginning of August.
The PIL alleges that the state authorities failed to take timely action in releasing excess water downstream from the dam that is located in Karnataka and this resulted in the flooding of Sangli and Kolhapur districts of Maharashtra. The PIL also alleges that the state government delayed rescue operations in the flood-affected areas.
This PIL will come up for hearing on August 26 in the Bombay high court.