The Hindu Business Line : Maharashtra to constitute disaster management body

THE State Government will set up the Maharashtra State Disaster Management Authority (MSDMA), said Chief Minster, Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh, while addressing the media after a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

The MSDMA would be under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, and would include the chief secretary, two cabinet ministers and nine nominated members. In the winter session of the State Legislature, a Bill would be introduced for disaster management, Mr Deshmukh said.

The State Government has accepted that the Mithi River was responsible for flooding large areas of the city, and will soon set up the Mithi River Development and Protection Authority (MRDPA). The MRDPA would also be under the chairmanship of the Chief Minster, and would consist of senior bureaucrats and experts from the Indian Institute of Technology and the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute.

"The development and protection of the Mithi River would be done by MRDPA. Since the river has become very shallow, our attempt would be to restore its original depth. We will take the help of old maps of the river. The authority will also factor in aspects such as drains and sewerage that open into the river," Mr Deshmukh said.

The Chief Minister assured that steps would be taken to revive the river before the onset of the next monsoon. "Removing the encroachments on the banks of the river is not the real problem, but the rehabilitation of the people living on the encroached land," he said.

On the legality of rehabilitation of slums dwellers and large number of illegal chemical units that have encroached on the embankments of the Mithi River, Mr Deshmukh evaded a direct answer.

He said that the government has also instituted a fact-finding committee, consisting of two independent experts to look into the cause of floods in Mumbai and the resultant chaos. The committee will give its report in three months.

Other than Mithi River, the Dahisar River — located in the western suburbs — also got flooded on July 26, killing about 100 people.

Mr Deshmukh has assured that the cleaning and development of the Dahisar River could get incorporated under the terms of reference of the MRDPA.

Veteran social worker and Dahisar resident, Mrs Indira Bhende, speaking to Business Line, said,

"I welcome the possible incorporation of Dahisar river in the MRDPA. The natural path of the river has been drastically changed, which has converted the river into a gutter. I hope the natural course of the river would be restored," she said.

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