Supreme Court takes Centre, Maharashtra to task over deluge

After the huge deluge early this month, that swallowed 45 lives in Maharashtra's Satara, Kolhapur and Sangli districts, the Supreme Court on Friday questioned the preparedness of the Centre and Maharashtra governments during the disaster and called for steps to avert future tragedies.

A public interest litigation (PIL) filed by one Amol Pawar, a doctor settled in Sangli district, provided the necessary trigger for the Court to move in this direction. A bench of Justices NV Ramana, Indira Banerjee and Ajay Rastogi issued notice on the PIL to the Centre, National Disaster Management Authority, Central Water Commission and states of Maharashtra and Karnataka.

The PIL filed by advocate Sachin Patil said that the floods witnessed in Maharashtra and some parts of Karnataka were "man-made" disaster as over 600 villages got submerged within a matter of ten days with no relief or life support in place to rescue or rehabilitate victims. The tragedy claimed 45 lives and affected almost six lakh persons.

According to the petitioner, the cause was due to late discharge of water from dams built on River Krishna and its tributaries situated in Maharashtra and Karnataka. The PIL stated that as per guidelines of the Central Water Commission, it is mandatory not to keep more than 10 per cent water at the start of monsoons. In the month of July, only 50 per cent of water is to be stored and in August not more than 75 per cent. The dams should be filled up only in September.

Despite these clear guidelines, the petition submitted that by July end, three dams in Maharashtra – Koyana, Warana and Radhanagari, breached the 50 per cent mark and by August 4 crossed 95 per cent carrying capacity. Simultaneously, water was discharged from these dams in huge volume leaving the three districts of Maharashtra under water.

By August 7, the water in other dams in the state situated on Krishna's tributaries – Dudhaganga, Kanher, Dhom – touched 90 per cent mark due to which there was excess discharge. Coupled with this fact was the reluctance by Karnataka to release water from two of its dams – Almatti and Hippargi, which took time for water in Sangli district to recede. As a result, parts of Belgaon and Bagalkot districts in Karnataka got flooded.

Pointing to these facts, the petition argued for a proper framework by which water level and discharge from dams could be regulated as it involves the lives of citizens. The petition further revealed that in Maharashtra high capacity lift irrigation schemes on Krishna river - irrigation scheme and Takari – Mhaisal irrigation scheme operates during summer to provide water to dry talukas of Sangli and Solapur. The petition wondered why these schemes cannot function during a flood-like situation.

The Court was also informed that despite such a huge tragedy, Centre and state allocated very little fund towards rehabilitation and compensation with Sangli and Kolhapur getting an allocation of Rs 35 crore each and Rs 20 crore to Satara. The petition demanded that a fresh Disaster Management Plan be drawn up by both Maharashtra and Karnataka governments and avert future tragedies by removing encroachments in the flood plain of these rivers.