Sharad Pawar visits Tiware dam, meets victims’ kin

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Monday visited the site of the breached Tiware dam in Ratnagiri district on Monday and met families of the victims. The former Union minister also extended financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh each to the affected families from the party’s welfare fund.

Several people died and a number of villagers went missing after the dam breached on July 3 following a downpour. While the state government has formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the incident, villagers have demanded action against officials responsible for negligence.

On Monday, Pawar visited the site and met the affected families along with other senior leaders of the party.

Former NCP state president, Bhaskar Jadhav, who was accompanying Pawar, said the people are angry because of the negligence of the concerned officials. Jadhav said the villagers have “copies of complaint letters written in the past two years about a possible breach”.

“Villagers told us that they had intimated the water resources department about the possible danger…despite that the incident took place. I also found few bridges connecting villages [were] in a weak condition and need immediate repairs,” Pawar tweeted after his visit.

Jadhav said, “They had also requested the concerned officials to take remedial measures, but no concrete action was taken. Pawar saheb assured them the letters will be passed on to the SIT formed by the state government.”

Jadhav said that the villagers don’t want to stay near the site owing to safety concerns and are demanding relocation to a safer place.

They also want compensation against loss of their houses, farm land and other things, he said. The NCP chief has assured them he will take up the issue with the state and Central governments.

First Published:
Jul 09, 2019 05:10 IST

Source: Read Full Article