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Maharashtra plan to de-silt Mithi

Devastating flood in the river claimed more than 500 lives in Mumbai last year

Mumbai: Facing flak over the massive flooding of Mumbai during the last monsoon, Maharashtra is keen to avoid repeat of such a situation and plans to de-silt Mithi river, a major channel for clearance of storm water, by May.

About 5,000 encroachments along the banks of the Mithi river would also be removed and the affected people would be rehabilitated by May 31, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukhs told visiting reporters here.

The Maharashtra Government had faced all round criticism for non-maintenance of the river which had virtually turned into a drain over the past years. Thousands of huts had come up on the river bank.

"We have taken up cleaning up of river Mithi. We will deepen the river bed by de-silting the waste and evicting encroachments from the river bank," Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh told reporters here on Wednesday.

He said the work is being undertaken in a phased manner and the first phase would be complete by May 31.

The city had witnessed a devastating flood last year which had claimed more than 500 lives and rendered hundreds of families homeless.

This apart, the State Government has submitted a proposal of Rs 11,000 crores to the Centre for various projects in Mumbai. The Centre has assured to constitute an empowered committee to consider all the proposals, Mr. Deshmukh said.

"Union Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy has said that these projects cannot be cleared under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission which stipulates to clear projects involving estimates below Rs. 100 crores.

"A separate empowered committee will be formed soon to consider these projects," he said.

The projects include a comprehensive drainage system for the city at a cost of Rs. 2000 crores and construction of metro rail system at a estimated cost of Rs. 1500 crores.

The empowered committee will treat every project differently.

The proposed projects for Pune and Nagpur has been approved by the Centre under the scheme, he said.

The Chief Minister admitted that regional imbalance was still thriving even after formation of statutory development boards for Vidarbha, Konkan, Marathwada and rest of Maharashtra.

"There has been serious backlog in irrigation projects in these areas. It is difficult to allocate the required money from the state budget. We have proposed the Centre to give assistance," he said.

He further said that the state had submitted the draft annual plan of Rs 13,000 crore for the state to the Planning Commission.

The Commission has increased this plan size to Rs 14,829 crores, he added. -- PTI

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Maharashtra plan to de-silt Mithi

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