Flooding in Pune: Congress, AAP target Ajit Pawar, call his planning negligent

Patole said Ajit Pawar has nothing to do with the people. ”And that is exactly the reason the entire state is suffering today. There is flooding and sewage all over the state. On one hand, Maharashtra is suffering the flood nightmare and on the other hand the rulers are preparing to welcome Home Minister Amit Shah in Nanded,” he said.

AAP State spokesperson Mukund Kirdat said,”The severe flooding in at least three talukas and even in parts of Pune shows that the administration was not prepared to handle the situation. A canal was burst, several houses were submerged, highways were flooded and traffic took a massive hit in the last two days. Everything went haywire just as the monsoon neared. This has clearly exposed that Mahayuti government and Ajit Pawar had not taken strong steps to anticipate such a situation. Ajit Pawar is found most of the time giving bytes to the media and playing to the gallery.”

Kirdat said the current situation has shown that there was a pressing need to consider climate change. ”The warning was always there. We have been witnessing climate change for the past few years. It seems the administration and the government have not given thought about climate change while planning,” he said.

MPCC chief Harshavardhan Sapkal said that with the very first heavy rain of the season, corruption in the state government and the Mumbai civic body was exposed as Mumbai’s streets turned into drains. He also said the rain exposed the way things were planned in other parts of the state, including in Baramati, Daund and Indapur talukas.

“Roads and railway tracks were flooded, and office-goers in Mumbai faced immense hardships. The BMC spends crores of rupees annually on pre-monsoon works and drain-cleaning, yet every year tells the same story. It is because contractors and those in power are looting public money and lining their own pockets that Mumbaikars are suffering,” alleged Sapkal.

Sapkal said, be it Mumbai or other parts of the state, ”In a place like Baramati where the Pawar’s have ruled, a canal burst. In neighbouring Daund, several houses were submerged, and highways went out of bounds…It has exposed the functioning of the Mahayuti government. One bout of rain has exposed the corrupt governance of the BJP, Shinde Sena, and Ajit Pawar’s alliance. Their ‘efficiency’ is such that they might need boats to go door-to-door asking for votes in the upcoming elections. Every year, the BMC spends crores on pre-monsoon work, yet the question arises: Where does the money really go? These conditions are the result of a corrupt alliance between Mantralaya, BMC administration and contractors…The situation elsewhere in the state is no different,” he said.