Thackeray announces ₹75-crore relief for Ratnagiri, ₹25 crore for Sindhudurg

Chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday announced immediate relief packages of ₹75 crore and ₹25 crore for Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts, respectively,

Chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday announced immediate relief packages of ₹75 crore and ₹25 crore for Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts, respectively, in the aftermath of Cyclone Nisarga. In a review meeting held through video conferencing, Thackeray further said Thane and Palghar have faced less damages compared to other districts and relief packages for them will be declared after assessing damages.

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On Friday, the chief minister announced a relief package of ₹100 crore for Raigad during his visit to the district.

Thackeray has also directed for a change in the norms to assess damages to provide relief to the people as they are old and asked the officials to propose new norms so that a decision can be taken.

In the review meeting on Sunday, it was mentioned that Ratnagiri was severely affected by the cyclone with huge damages to houses and farm lands. The CM has assured to visit both Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg soon.

Anil Parab, guardian minister for Ratnagiri who was in the district to assess the situation, informed Thackeray that many villages have been devastated. He added that people do not have places to stay as their cement roof sheets were blown away, food grains stock that was supposed to be distributed through public distribution system got soaked and need to be replaced with fresh stock, said a senior official present in the meeting.

According to primary estimates, the damage in the district is estimated at over ₹100 crore, the official said.

Uday Samant, guardian minister of Sindhudurg, said roads and electricity connectivity has been damaged and repair works need to be taken up on priority basis.

Eknath Shinde, guardian minister of Raigad, said transformers and electric poles have been damaged in the district.

Thackeray said they need to consider making power cables underground in Konkan region. “We also have to look for alternatives of cement roof sheets and building cyclone-proof houses along the coast,” Thackeray said.