Munde to lead 'Godavari Parikrama' from Aug 31 in Marathwada

Aurangabad, Maharashtra, Aug 21 (UNI) Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Gopinath Munde will lead a 'Godavari Parikrama' in Marathwada to assess the impact of floods on villages along the banks of river Godavari.

Addressing a press conference here today, Mr Munde said the 18-day 'Godavari Parikrama'(Godavari circumambulation) will begin from the flood-affected famous piligrimage centre - Paithan in Aurangabad district on August 31, and would conclude at Shahagad in neighbouring Beed district on September 17.

''To meet the flood-affected people in order to understand the damage by the natural calamity, their requirements and solutuions to prevent damage in the future, are the objectives of the 'Godavari Feri' to be launched by the party,'' Mr Munde said.

Calling flood a man-made calamity, which had badly affected the people of Marathwada, the former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister blamed the Democratic Front (DF) Government for lack of planning, vision and disaster management, despite facing a similar situation last year.

It was decided last year that water should be released from dam in a phased manner, once the dam achieved 70 per cent of storage. However, the irrigation authorities have started releasing water from Jayakwadi dam (Paithan) after its storage reached 93 per cent, he said.

He said, the State has suffered a damage worth Rs 10,000 crore and Marathwada region was the worst affected where 200 villages suffered a major damage.

The former Maharashtra Deputy CM demanded amendments in the Rehabilation Act, in order to undertake a total rehabilitation of the flood-affected people on the lines of 'rehabilitation of earthquake affected people'.

He alleged that the package announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh was not enough to take care of the damage suffered by the flood-hit people of the State and demanded a review of the same.

He also demanded construction of pucca houses to the flood-affected people in Marathwada, whose houses were washed away in the floods.

UNI MPJ GK MIR HT1955