State now worried about excess rain

MUMBAI: With a forecast of aboveaverage rainfall in most regions in the state, the government machinery is coming up with ways to tackle possible flooding. The India

MUMBAI: With a forecast of aboveaverage rainfall in most regions in the state, the government machinery is coming up with ways to tackle possible flooding. The India Meteorological Department, in its primary forecast, has estimated 24.9% above-normal rainfall in parched Marathwada.

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The state plans to follow the mandate of the National Disaster Management Authority while preparing the disaster management plan and coordinate with three defence forces for the rescue operation in case of excessive rain. The teams from the Army, BMC and state disaster management cell will conduct a joint inspection of 25 of the 217 spots that are vulnerable to flooding in Mumbai, in the next few days.

“During the presentation made by IMD last week, we were told that almost all parts of the state will get more rain than its average over the past 50 years. Under the disaster management plans for all districts, we have identified spots that are prone to flooding and have directed the district administrations to keep places reserved for rescue operations. We are closely monitoring the situation with the defence forces, National Disaster Response Force, Coast Guard and other central agencies,” said Swadheen Kshatriya, chief secretary.

According to the estimates given by the IMD, Marathwada and Vidarbha is expected to get 24.9% and 31.3% more rainfall respectively, while Konkan, Western Maharashtra and North Maharashtra are expected to get 27.5%, 24% and 28.2% more than the average. “We have directed the district administrations to keep an eye on the discharge of water from dams,” said an official from the disaster management cell. “We have decided to implement the incident response system, which has a systematic mechanism to tackle natural disasters. We have roles and responsibilities fixed at districts-levels and the standard operation procedures chalked out,” said Suhas Diwase, director of state disaster management cell.