Fadnavis visits flood-hit Nagpur, promises better infrastructure to prevent rain damage in future

Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis visits flood-hit Nagpur, says damage could have been minimised had older structures been repaired. He inspected the rain-hit areas, interacted with citizens, and promised to repair infrastructure to prevent similar occurrences in future.

As Nagpur city reeled under the onslaught of intense showers, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who visited the city’s flood-hit areas on Sunday, said the damage caused by the rain might have been minimised had older structures been repaired.

At least four people were killed and hundreds had to be rescued as the city received 109 millimetres of rain in barely three hours on Saturday.

Distraught citizens greeted Mr. Fadnavis’ convoy on Sunday as the Deputy CM, who hails from Nagpur, inspected the rain-hit areas and directed officials to take immediate measures.

“The situation is very bad. The people have suffered a lot due to water entering their homes and causing significant damage to property. While it is true that we do not have the carrying capacity to cope with showers of such, we could have minimised the damage if some measures, like removing older structures or repairing them, had been taken earlier,” Mr. Fadnavis said.

The Deputy CM, a former Mayor of Nagpur, who has been representing one of the city’s Assembly constituencies since 1999, said the government would henceforth work in a way to ensure that water did not overflow into people’s homes in future.   

“The walls of the Nag river would be repaired and the State government will be repairing and laying out new infrastructure to prevent such occurrences on the future. While the India Meteorological Department had given an orange alert, it could not predict that so much rain would fall in such a short period. There is always something to be learnt from such disasters,” he said.

It is estimated that nearly 10,000 homes were affected by the flooding on Saturday, with water spilling over Nagpur’s famous Ambazari lake and the walls of the Nag river.