89 villages face flood onslaught

Nearly 336 drills were conducted in the villages in the district as part of the preparedness with the help of home guards,civil defence personnel and the fire department. “The villagers were given live demos,” he said.

While the district is equipped with an early warning and dissemination system,district disaster management incharge Ganesh Sonawane said an sms system as well video conferencing facility has been made available from the control room at the district collectorate. “All gram panchayats have been connected with the control room and any information can be disseminated at the earliest through conferencing or the sms system,” he said.

The district will have six lightning arresters in Baramati,Khed,Shirur,Jejuri and Saswad. Steps have been taken for the maintenance of essential services,medicines/medical teams,veterinary services,supply of drinking water,temporary shelters,activating of control rooms and search and rescue teams.

The district control room will operate 24 hours and teams have been appointed at district,sub-divisional and taluka levels. “The district has received four rubber boats from the state and they are at NDRF,Talegaon,” said Sonawane. The district management team has been organising street plays,booklets,pamphlets,wall painting and mock drills for spreading awareness.