'Centre should give Maharashtra Rs 5,000 cr'

BJP President L K Advani demanded that the Centre provide Rs 5,000 crore for the relief work.

BJP President L K Advani on Saturday demanded that the Centre provide Rs 5,000 crore for the relief work following the heavy rains in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra, which has claimed over 1,000 lives.

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The Centre should also expeditiously set up a National Disaster Management Authority which should be a statutory body, Advani told reporters in Mumbai.

The National Disaster Management Authority was recommended by the National Disaster Management Committee, headed by the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar as its Vice Chairman, he said.

Advani, who is on a two-day visit to the flood-affected areas of Mumbai and other parts of the state, was speaking to the reporters after visiting landslides affected Saki Naka, Kalina and Rawalpada in north Mumbai.

Observing that such an authority already exists in Gujarat and has won praise even from the United Nations, the Leader of Opposition said "Maharashtra should also follow suit."

Advani said Gujarat government would donate Rs 10 crore for the relief work and the other four BJP-ruled states -- Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan -- would donate Rs five crore each for the same.

All BJP members in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha would also donate a month's salary towards the relief work, he said.

"Maharashtra BJP leader Gopinath Munde has also informed me that BJP legistators in the state would also donate their one month's salary for the cause," Advani added.