Angry flood-hit victims corner Fadnavis in Nagpur

Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis faced backlash when he visited flood-hit victims in Nagpur. Angry citizens complained about lack of information and delayed evacuation. Four people died and hundreds were rescued. NDRF and SDRF are conducting rescue operations. Compensation will be given to affected families and damaged establishments. Nitin Gadkari and Nitin Raut also visited the affected areas.

NAGPUR: Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis faced a backlash at his home turf in Nagpur when he visited the flood-hit victims and was cornered by angry citizens on Sunday. Fadnavis visited the west and southwest localities near Ambazari Lake.

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An angry group of flood-hit citizens cornered Fadnavis and complained that the district administration did not inform them properly about the natural disaster and failed to evacuate them in time. A sizable area was without power and drinking water for more than 18 hours, they complained.

Four persons died, and hundreds were rescued following the torrential rains in Nagpur that lashed in the intervening night of Friday and Saturday. Due to the heavy rains, a flood triggered in Nagpur and the entire city was submerged under water. The rain has eased since Sunday morning.

“We could have minimised the damage if some measures were taken earlier. The IMD had given an orange alert but it could not predict this much rain would fall in such a short time. There is always something to learn from such disasters,” Fadnavis said while interacting with media persons.

Water gushed into at least 10,000 homes on Saturday amid extremely heavy rainfall. The Ambazari Lake, Gorewada Lake and the Nag River also breached their boundaries, leading to severe flooding. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and its state counterpart SDRF are currently undertaking rescue and relief operations in Nagpur city.

Fadnavis had earlier announced that the kin of those killed in the floods would get ₹4 lakh each as compensation. Compensation of ₹10,000 will be given to flood-affected families and those whose small roadside establishments were damaged in heavy rains. The deputy chief minister announced to compensate up to ₹5 lakh for bigger shops.

The union minister for transport Nitin Gadkari and the senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra minister, Nitin Raut also visited the flood-hit areas and assured the victims of all possible help.