‘NDRF base to be set up in Raigad,’ says Ajit Pawar in assembly

His announcement came five days after a landslide at Irshalwadi, a village in Khalapur tehsil of Raigad, killed 27 people while 57 are still unaccounted for.

Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar announced in the assembly on Monday that the state government would ensure that the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) set up its base camp at Mahad in Raigad district.

Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar (Centre) ( Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

The state would follow up with the Centre on a proposal sent by the erstwhile Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in 2021, he said in response to a question by an opposition leader.

His announcement came five days after a landslide at Irshalwadi, a village in Khalapur tehsil of Raigad, killed 27 people while 57 are still unaccounted for.

Officials, however, said the NDRF is not keen on a camp at Mahad where the MVA government had in August 2021 earmarked a five-acre plot for this purpose.

“The NDRF has already its base camp at Sudumbare in Pune and most of the 18 teams in Maharashtra are stationed there. They are not interested in another camp which is not far off from Pune,” an official from the relief and rehabilitation department said.

An officer from the NDRF said, “The state earmarked the land on its own. The demand is for the base of a team (of 50 personnel) at Mahad for which the approval has to come from the ministry of home affairs. The decision on a base camp will be taken by the Centre based on the past events and past deployment of teams.”

Pawar, a Nationalist Congress Party leader, also announced in the house that the state would double the financial assistance given to the families affected by natural disasters to ₹10,000 from ₹5,000. He said in some districts heavy rain had claimed lives and damaged crops while in some districts the water level in dams had dropped below the dead stock or unusable stock. “The situation is contradictory, but we are taking all steps to provide relief to the affected people.”

Apart from the financial help, the flood-hit people would be provided with potable water and foodgrains while schoolchildren would be given stationery and books, he added.