Maharashtra govt proposes RCC wall along rivers in Mahad and Chiplun

Vijay Kumar Gautam, the officer on special duty in the irrigation department, said the plan was prepared by the department six years back and was put on a back-burner then.

THE STATE irrigation department has proposed to set up a reinforced cement concrete wall to prevent floodwater of rivers Savitri and Vasisthi from entering the towns of Mahad and Chiplun in the future. The proposed walls, the department said, would be constructed along the rivers as they pass through the two cities.

Vijay Kumar Gautam, the officer on special duty in the irrigation department, said the plan was prepared by the department six years back and was put on a back-burner then.

“I have put the proposal before Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and he has given in-principle approval. We are now preparing a detailed proposal. People living in low-lying areas of Mahad in Raigad district and Chiplun in Ratnagiri district will not stop building houses just because these are low-lying areas. Karad city, which has an RCC wall, is an example of how floodwaters of a river can’t enter a township,” Gautam said Monday.

Meanwhile, with floodwaters receding, the state energy department is focussing on restoring the power supply to flood-affected districts of Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Satara and Kolhapur. Principal secretary of energy department Dinesh Waghmare told The Indian Express, “As per our records, there were a total of 1,927 villages without power and so far, supply has been restored to 1,447 villages… We are not restoring power in the rest of the villages because we fear electrocution and short circuit cases as many substations are still underwater. In Chiplun, our sub-station at Umragpur is underwater, while in Mahad, the transmission centre is underwater.”

More than 50 per cent of flood-affected areas of Kolhapur and Sangli are also facing power issues. Waghmare said the department was distributing 5,000 solar lamps from Maharashtra Energy Development Agency and 1000 have been delivered to the flood-affected areas.

The National Highway Authority of India, meanwhile, has reopened the bridge on Vashisthi river for light traffic.

“Part of the bridge was washed away and we have filled up the approaches which were washed away. There is a new bridge being constructed next to the existing one as a part of the highway widening. Two lanes will be opened in a month’s time and two others will be opened by December,” said Chief Engineer Santosh Shelar of the NHAI.

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