Mumbai: A 55-year-old man from Kolhapur has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Bombay High Court, seeking that Maharashtra authorities be held accountable for several lapses that resulted in devastating floods in his home district and Sangli.
Heavy rains and floods battered several areas of western Maharashtra and the Konkan region earlier this month, with Kolhapur and Sangli bearing the maximum brunt. The PIL is likely to be taken up for hearing later this week by a bench of Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Bharati Dangre.
The petitioner, one Raosaheb, has sought that the court directs the state government to constitute an "expert inquiry committee" to probe the reasons for the floods.
He has also sought that the committee be directed to identify the state officials or authorities, including the water resource department, which failed to take timely action to control the situation.
This monsoon, the Krishna river, which passes through Sangli, received above average rainfall and as a result several dams on the river and its tributaries are full, the petition has said.
The state authorities failed to take timely action in releasing excess water downstream, thus resulting in the floods, the petitioner said.
The PIL also alleges that the state government delayed rescue operations in the flood-affected areas.
Several people were stranded in such areas without electricity or potable water for ten days, before the rescue operations began, it claimed.
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