After Nana Patekar, Ritesh extends support to people of parched Marathwada

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When asked whether he would limit himself to Latur or would like to do what Nana Patekar is doing, Ritesh said,”Not only for Latur, but I i will do whatever I can for the drought-hit Marathwada region.” Ritesh said he was still in discussion with the activists as to the exact nature of his role as the brand ambassador. “If there are any water conservation projects that would benefit the people, I will extend my best help,” said Ritesh, who donated Rs 25 lakh for “Jalyukt Latur” campaign. His brother, Amit Deshmukh, who is an MLA from the region donated Rs 75 lakh.

Mahadev Gomare of Art of Living Foundation said Ritesh is expected to help raise funds for the water conservation project at Manjara river which they launched last month. “The project is worth Rs 7 crore. We are not taking any help from the government. It is entirely a citizen’s initiative. Citizens, activists, educationists, lawyers, doctors, students, teachers all have joined hands to implement the project,” Gomare said.

So far, the foundation has collected Rs 4 crore including Rs one crore donation from the Deshmukh family. “The Deshmukh family residence is outside the city limit. Therefore, they will not benefit by the water conservation project being implemented by us. But they are generous enough to contribute a large sum, especially Ritesh Deshmukh…,” said Gomare. He said they expect Ritesh to raise funds from his contacts, especially in Hindi and Marathi film industry. Ritesh said he would decide about it after holding a dialogue with the activists.

Last week, when the announcement was made regarding Ritesh being made the brand ambassador, the actor himself visited the spot for a first hand experience of the dredging work of Manjara river at Sai village. In the blazing heat of Latur where the temperature crossed 40 degree Celsius, Ritesh spent quite sometime trying to understand how the project would benefit the citizens of Latur.

An 18 kilometre long trench is being dug in the Manjara river from Sai village to store water during moonsoon. Nearly three-km stretch work has been completed so far. The deadline is May end. The NAAM Foundation was launched by Nana Patekar and fellow actor Makrand Anaspure. The foundation is busy extending financial assistance to drought-hit farmers as also setting up water conservation projects. “We have no truck with them…they are doing it independently and so are we. Both the organisations are working for bringing relief to the parched region of Marathwada,” said Gomare.

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