'Constructions in river floodline areas a fact, govt will have to take decision'

Amid a debate over the likely causes of floods in many areas in Maharashtra NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said various structures had been constructed inside the flood lines of most of the rivers in the state and hoped for a policy decision by the state government in which his party is one of the constituentsHeavy rains last week caused massive floods and landslides in large parts of Maharashtra especially in the coastal Konkan and Western Maharashtra regions killing 207 people as of Tuesday as per the state government ldquoIt is the fact that various constructions are made inside the flood lines of most of the rivers in Maharashtra The state government will have to take some decision regarding the samerdquo Pawar told reportersA flood line is an indicative line that refers to the maximum level likely to be reached by a flooded river As the flood line is an average of the last 100 years of recorded floods many times residential or commercial constructions are allowed in the floodprone areas or such constructions are regularised by authoritiesPawar also said that the felling of trees was one of the reasons behind villages getting submerged due to heavy rainfall Responding to question related to encroachment by humans on the environment and its impact the former Union agriculture minister said ldquothe rampant cutting of trees is also a reason behind such natural calamities In the absence of trees the water now flows directly towards the base of mountains and villages located there have to pay a heavy price The state will have to think about itrdquo Pawar said unprecedented rainfall in the last 100 years was recorded recently near Koyna damObviously it will cost dearly in terms of damage and deluge he added When asked whether the Maharashtra government is considering construction of walls along the river banks to prevent floodwaters from entering villages and towns Pawar said ldquoAs per my information Maharashtra chief minister has chaired a meeting regarding whether some villages can be relocated to safer places But such policies have limited success as people are reluctant to relocate to a distant placerdquoMaharashtra has the experience to deal with natural calamities he said referring to the Killari earthquake of 1993 when he was chief minister of the state Interestingly Maharashtra Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar nephew of Sharad Pawar on Monday dismissed the argument that the current flood situation in western Maharashtra could be a manmade crisisHe had blamed unprecedented rainfall in free catchment areas of dams for the deluge at many places The green cover has not reduced in the areas where the landslide and flooding have taken place It is being talked about that due to the high tree cutting activities the incidents of landslides are taking place but there is no truth The green cover has not been reduced In Satara uprooted trees mud and sludge came down during landslides he had saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever