Maha CM seeks financial aid from Centre
At least 18 people die across Maharashtra; power supply of 4.64mn consumers disrupted; state cabinet meet today
MUMBAI: Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray sought financial assistance from the Centre on Tuesday after Cyclone Tauktae, an extremely severe cyclonic storm that skirted the western coastline between May 16 and 17, left at least 18 people dead in Maharashtra, destroyed more than 9,000 hectares of farmland and caused damage to properties across several districts of the state.
Thackeray spoke to Union home minister Amit Shah over the phone to apprise him of the storm which made landfall between Porbandar and Mahuva in Gujarat late Monday night. A state cabinet meeting will be held on Wednesday following which the government is expected to announce a relief package.
Relief and rehabilitation minister Vijay Wadettiwar held a review meeting as authorities of 10 districts, including coastal Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg and Raigad assessed the losses on Tuesday, due to havoc caused by the cyclone that intensified into an extremely severe category early Monday morning.
“Apart from completing the spot assessment of the losses, the district administration should also ensure that the repair works of the houses and other structures be completed before the monsoon was set in. The relief should be extended to the people at the earliest. We are directing the district administration to give exemptions from the Covid-19 curbs to the shops and establishments that supply the material required for the repair and maintenance of the damaged structures,” he said. Wadettiwar said that a memorandum for the Central relief will soon be sent to the Centre. The Indian Army also launched columns to assist civil administration in cyclone-hit areas, which included moving trees and debris from roads to enable toe movement of essential supplies and civil vehicles
Ratnagiri, Raigad and Sindhudurg districts were badly hit with at least 3,783 structures including houses, and government buildings reported as being partially or fully damaged, even as high-speed winds, which reached up to 185kmph gusting to 200kmph, damaged power infrastructure and plunged large tracts of these districts into darkness.
An official release by the state said that the storm disrupted power supply to 4.64 million consumers in Thane, Raigad, Palghar, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg and other districts of Maharashtra. The electricity supply of 3.41 million consumers has been successfully restored, it stated. On Monday, a total of 5,500 electricity poles fell, transmission cables got snapped, and feeders tripped due to heavy rains coupled with high-speed winds.
Maharashtra Energy Minister Nitin Raut earlier said 13,172 staffers are working tirelessly to restore the supply of the remaining consumers.
Roughly 30% of the villages in Raigad and Ratnagiri and other affected districts were yet to have their power supply returned late Tuesday evening after damage to transformers, sub stations and electricity poles. Internet services were disrupted, and officials said that it was likely to take a few more days to restore connectivity.
In all, 3,571 villages and 215,266 people were affected in seven coastal districts that were hit by the storm. At least 17,657 structures were partially or fully damaged and crop and horticulture on 8,830 hectares – including orchards growing Alphonso mangoes and Chickoo was damaged, across these districts.
Three fisherfolk in Sindhudurg died after their boats capsized in rough sea. Five persons were killed in Thane and Palghar districts in various incidents related to the cyclonic storm, including a 51-year-old auto-rickshaw driver who was killed after a tree fell on his vehicle on Monday, and a 40-yearold man who died after being crushed by cement blocks that fell from the roof of a house due to high winds.
Raigad district bore the brunt of the storm for the second year in a row, as four persons died in separate incidents due to the storm. Last June, severe cyclonic storm Nisarga had caused widescale damage in this coastal district, as it made landfall between Diveagar and Shrivardhan, left at least six dead, 16 injured and nearly 13,000 hectares of cropland damaged in northern parts of the state as well as its coastal districts.
The four fatalities in Raigad district on Monday occurred in the incidents of falling of a tree and collapse of a wall in Uran and Roha. Altogether, 8,383 people from 2,299 families were shifted to safer places in Raigad district till Monday night. District collector Nidhi Chaudhary has directed all tehsildars to assess the damage caused by the cyclone.