Maharashtra: Uddhav Thackeray to visit flood-hit Marathwada on Sept 25

Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray will visit floodaffected areas in Marathwada on Thursday party leader Sanjay Raut confirmed on WednesdayAccording to PTI Raut said Thackeray will be accompanied by other senior party leaders during the tour of the rainhit regionAccording to a Sena UBT functionary Thackeray will begin his visit from Latur and later travel to Dharashiv Beed Jalna and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar to assess the damage and meet with affected residentsMarathwada located in central Maharashtra has been reeling under the impact of unseasonal and heavy rains over the past few days which have claimed lives submerged villages destroyed homes and damaged thousands of hectares of standing cropsAs per PTI unprecedented rains in the arid Marathwada which comprises eight districts over the past four days have claimed at least eight lives marooned villages damaged houses and flattened crops on more than 30000 hectares officials had said on TuesdayRaut claimed that the government cant address farmers woes as it is saddled with a debt of Rs 9 lakh crore This is why Thackeray has appealed to the Centre to assist with Rs 10000 crore he said reported PTIThe Rajya Sabha MP said the loss is such that even the fertile layer of farms has been washed awayCrops on nearly 70 lakh acres have been affected while 40 lakh farmers have been hit he said adding that they have also lost cattleThe government machinery may now have reached Dharashiv the worstaffected district but Sena UBT MP Omraje Nimbalkar and scores of party workers are already involved in relief work said RautMaharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde promises aid to farmers affected by rainsMaharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath said on Wednesday that the government would provide all possible assistance to rainhit farmers in the stateHe was speaking to reporters after visiting floodaffected pockets in the Dharashiv district in the Marathwada region along with Shiv Sena leader Tanaji Sawant according to the news agency PTI During the tour Shinde interacted with farmers and floodaffected peopleUnprecedented rains in the arid Marathwada which comprises eight districts over the past four days had claimed at least eight lives marooned villages damaged houses and flattened crops on more than 30000 hectares officials had said on Tuesday Dharashiv is a part of the regionAs per PTI Shinde said the government would help the farmers who have suffered losses due to the floods and recent torrential downpoursThe deputy CM said personnel from the National Disaster Response Force NDRF rescued people from flooded areas and airlifted several persons to safer placesParties should not indulge in politics and instead come out to help all those affected he saidThe Marathwada region had recorded 8238 mm 285 per cent more rainfall till Tuesday morning against the average expected downpour of 6408 mm for the period according to officialsWith PTI inputs