Rehabilitation only solution: Maha CM

Pune/ Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said rehabilitation of people was the only solution to the hardships caused by floods, and assured that his government would provide every possible help on this front.

Speaking during his visit to Kolhapur district to take stock of the damages caused by last week's torrential rains and subsequent floods, he urged the affected people to discuss among themselves and take a decision

about their rehabilitation, and also asked the flood-prone villages to unanimously pass a resolution about it.

Later, while addressing a press conference after taking a review of the situation, Thackeray said that strict measures would be taken soon to find a permanent

solution to the hardships faced by the people living in the flood-prone areas.

Interacting with the flood-affected people put up at temporary shelters at a village in Shirol tehsil of the district, he said, "If the entire village is ready to get rehabilitated, the state government will provide all the help it needs for the process."

"Rehabilitation is the only solution to the frequent hardships caused due to floods. You (people from the flood-affected villages) sit and decide (about the rehabilitation) and we will provide

the help," the chief minister told the villagers.

The government was keen to find a permanent solution to the situation faced by the flood-prone villages in the state, he added.

In Narsinhwadi, villagers talked to him about the 2019 floods, last week's flood situation and the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that these things have played havoc in their lives in the last three years. They sought assistance from him in rebuilding their lives.