Cong slams Maha govt over rain chaos, says administration ‘failed’ to prevent recurring crisis

Mumbai, July 5 (IANS) Congress leader Husain Dalwai on Sunday criticised the Maharashtra government over the widespread waterlogging reported across several parts of the state amid relentless rainfall, alleging that the administration had ample time to prepare but failed to implement lasting solutions to prevent such recurring situations.

His remarks came as Maharashtra continued to witness widespread heavy to extremely heavy rainfall. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for districts including Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, and Palghar.

The intense rainfall has resulted in severe waterlogging, disrupted local train services and forced the closure of schools in several areas. Heavy showers have also triggered road cave-ins, uprooted trees and disrupted both road and rail traffic across different parts of the state.

The impact has extended to Thane, Palghar, Navi Mumbai and Pune, where incidents of landslides, flooded roads and evacuations have also been reported.

Speaking to IANS, Dalwai said: “It wasn’t raining earlier, and they (the government) had a lot of time to work, but it wasn’t done properly. They do such shoddy work that it’s unbelievable. The roads are bad everywhere, and there’s water everywhere. Look outside, it’s a pond. I repeatedly told the contractor, but he didn’t do anything.”

Questioning the preparedness of civic authorities, he said: “Are the BMC engineers working or not? There are so many manholes and people have died falling in them. The manholes should have been closed. Now they say that the families of the deceased will be given compensation. What will happen by giving the compensation? The administration has completely failed to avoid these rainfall-related problems.”

Meanwhile, the heavy rains continued to disrupt normal life across Maharashtra. In Pune, at least 14 vehicles were damaged after the compound wall of a residential society collapsed early on Sunday following incessant rainfall, according to fire brigade officials.

Waterlogging was also reported at the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) railway station in Kurla on Saturday, while heavy showers continued to lash Mumbai, Thane and Pune on Sunday morning.

Officials said relentless rainfall over the past 48 hours has severely affected normal life across Thane district, leading to extensive waterlogging, incidents of tree falls and the collapse of a gallery in a residential building, in which two people sustained injuries.

–IANS

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