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Maharashtra

Maharashtra: Oppn urges Guv to declare ‘wet-drought’ in flood-hit areas

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 A delegation of Opposition leaders led by Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar on Tuesday called on Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and urged him to declare a ‘wet-drought’ in many of the flood-ravaged Vidarbha and Marathwada regions.

The delegation submitted a memorandum to the Governor with a list of demands to expedite relief to the farmers and villagers hit by the fury of floods.

“The government must announce an assistance of Rs 75,000/hectrare to all farmers affected by heavy rains or floods and immediate aid of Rs 1.50 lakh/hectare to all farmers who have suffered damages to their fruit orchards,” said Pawar.

The Opposition demanded waiver of education fees for all students in traditional and professional colleges in these areas for the academic year 2022-2023.

Since a large number of farm labourers in Vidarbha-Marathwada region are on the verge of starvation due to lack of work and wages since the past two-three weeks, the government should consider their plight and provide a one-time help to them.

Pawar said that paddy is the main cultivation of the people in the tribal areas and the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) had extended subsidies to the tribals last year, and urged the present government to provide similar subsidies on priority even this year.

The Leader of Opposition recounted his experiences during the 4-day tour of the flood-hit regions when he witnessed farmlands eroded or washed out and covered with silt, making the lands infertile and unfit for agriculture for several years and concrete measures must be taken restore these lands at the earlier with adequate financial assistance.

The flood waters accumulated in fields and orchards has led to massive damage to cash crops like soyabean, sugarcane, bananas and other fruits resulting in a crisis of sowing this year and the farmers must be given options for re-sowing in a short span during the current crop season, said Pawar.

Many drinking water and agriculture wells have collapsed, washed out or got exhausted due to clogging and they must be allowed repairs under the government scheme of MNREGA.

Ditto is the situation with drip irrigation with the irrigation sets washed out in the floods, many have been damaged and the farmers should be given subsidies to reinstall them on an urgent basis.

Besides a large number of domestic and farm animals have been washed away or perished, and help must be given to their owners on priority.

There has been a huge damage to the roads and bridges infrastructure in the Vidarbha-Marathwada regions with most rural, district and other major roads in a terrible condition that has left many villages cut off from the local administration and urged these roads to be repaired by the government.

The Opposition delegation also demanded urgent repairs to the collapsed power distribution system, the crisis arising out of loans availed by the farmers for the Kharif season and demanded a complete waives of these debts, rebuilding the damaged or destroyed homes and barns of the villagers, plus the schools, colleges or government buildings that have been hit in many areas.

Pawar has also slammed the government of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for the huge delay in expanding the cabinet that has left the state administration paralysed and neglecting the immediate needs of the flood-hit farmers and villagers.

Maharashtra

Abu Asim response to Nitesh Rane’s statement that madrasas are the base of terrorism: Rane is a liar

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Mumbai: Maharashtra Minister Nitesh Rane, while demanding a ban on madrasas, called them a haven for terrorism and showed hostility towards Muslims, on which Maharashtra Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Abu Asim has called Nitesh Rane a liar. He said that Nitesh Rane is lying about madrasas. No training for terrorism is given in madrasas in our country. This is the brainchild of Nitesh Rane. If there is any doubt, then madrasas should be monitored 24 hours a day with cameras. Defaming madrasas is just part of divisive politics. The fact is that madrasas educate orphans and poor children and make them good human beings. If we look at history, the students of these same madrasas sacrificed their lives for the country’s freedom. The purpose of madrasas has always been to serve humanity. BJP’s politics is now limited to Muslims, mosques, prayers and madrasas. He said that the way BJP and Nitesh Rane are conspiring to defame madrasas, they can never succeed in their goal because this madrasa is not your lair, but the people are made from the soil of this place. Politics is involved in all the allegations made against madrasas and that is why there is no need to pay attention to Nitesh Rane’s words, his job is to spread poison and divide Hindus into Muslims.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai Municipal Corporation presents budget with deficit of Rs 80,952.56 crore for 2026-27, 8.77% increase in expenditure over last year’s estimate

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Mumbai: Municipal Corporation (BMC) has presented its deficit budget for the current financial year. It has presented a budget of Rs 80,952.56 crore for the financial year 2026-27, against an estimate of Rs 89.84 crore. Municipal Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani presented the budget along with Standing Committee Chairman Prabhakar Shinde.

The new expenditure is higher than the previous year’s budget of Rs 74,427.41 crore. The civic body said it has adopted a policy of reducing administrative expenditure and has made strong arrangements for development works.

The corporation currently has Rs 81,449 crore and 32 lakh crore. Of this amount, Rs 44,826 crore and 23 lakh crore are earmarked deposits and cannot be used. The remaining amount of Rs 36,623 crore and 09 lakh crore can be used for other civic projects.

Officials said the corporation may break some deposits to fund infrastructure and development initiatives.
A key policy decision in the budget relates to outdoor advertising. The civic body has imposed a complete ban on billboards larger than 40 by 40 feet. It will also not allow billboards on footpaths or building roofs. No new approvals will be given for such structures. The move is aimed at improving public safety and curbing dangerous hoardings.

The budget has provided Rs 5,237 crore for the health department for 2026-27. The civic body also said that 1.35 crore citizens have availed services at the Hindu Hardai Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray Hospital. It plans to introduce free AI-based treatment for diabetes and eye diseases at the hospital.

To tackle the rising air pollution in the city, the corporation has allocated Rs 159.82 crore for environment and cleanliness. The budget includes Rs 1,000 crore as grant to BEST. The education department has been allocated Rs 4,248.8 crore. Solid waste management gets Rs 580.82 crore, while the storm water drainage department gets Rs 1,800 crore.

The allocation for infrastructure is Rs 6,875 crore for roads and transport, Rs 9,650 crore for bridges, Rs 950 crore for coastal road project, Rs 1,330 crore for water engineering and Rs 6,600 crore for sewerage project works. Rs 800 crore has been allocated for parks and zoos. The budget emphasizes administrative expenditure for infrastructure development.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai: Ajit Pawar plane crash, Marine Drive police station refuses to register case against MLAs

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Mumbai: Police has refused to register a case in the Ajit Pawar plane crash case. NCP leader MLA Rohit Pawar along with other MLAs had today gone to Marine Drive police station and demanded that a case be registered in the Ajit Pawar plane crash or conspiracy case. The process of recording his confession statement was also going on, but in the meantime, the DCP and Additional Police Commissioner refused to register a case and said that a case cannot be registered in this matter. Expressing his displeasure, Rohit Pawar said that the purpose of registering an FIR today is that the DGCA has issued a circular on the basis of which action has been taken regarding the VSR company, on this basis the VSR company is responsible for this plane crash, yet the police have refused to register a case. He said that any citizen can register a complaint at the police station, this act says, but contrary to this, the police have refused to register a case. He said that efforts are underway to save the VSR company. He said that the police register cases for other crimes including assault, but why is the police not registering a case on the incident that happened with a Maratha leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar? This is completely wrong. Our struggle will continue until justice is achieved. He said that tomorrow morning we will try to register a complaint at the Baramati police station. Rohit Pawar expressed his disappointment and said that if a Deputy Chief Minister does not get justice, then what will happen to the common man? Regarding the registration of a case in the case of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, the ruling party BJP has also taken its stand that a case should not be registered in this matter, while it has also recommended a CBI inquiry into this matter, but despite this inquiry, we have the right to register an FIR, yet we are being deprived of it and have refused to take an FIR.

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