Centre must announce Rs 10,000 crore relief package for flood-hit Marathwada: Uddhav Thackeray

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday demanded that the Centre announce a Rs 10,000 crore relief package for Marathwada, where heavy rains over the past few days have killed eight people and damaged houses and crops.

In a statement, Thackeray said that once compensation is credited to the accounts of affected persons, banks should not deduct loan installments from the sum.

Officials said the rains have damaged hundreds of houses and crops on more than 33,000 hectares in the drought-prone region over the last four days.

The state cabinet reviewed the situation in Mumbai, with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis assuring that the government is working to provide relief to farmers and other affected residents.

“The Centre should immediately announce an assistance package of Rs 10,000 crore for flood-hit Marathwada,” Thackeray said. He recalled that during the Maha Vikas Aghadi government (November 2019–June 2022), heavy rains and drought-like conditions had distressed farmers, but the Centre had provided minimal assistance.

Thackeray urged that procedures such as panchanama (spot damage assessment) and studies of ex-gratia rules should not delay aid. He warned that rabi (winter) crops are at risk and questioned how farmers would recover from the disaster’s impact.

He also reiterated that banks should not deduct loan installments from compensation amounts and that rules regarding “wet drought” should be set aside when providing relief.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Fadnavis asked Thackeray not to politicise the flood situation in Marathwada. “People don’t expect politics during such a crisis. We are doing all that is needed to help people and farmers,” he said.

Responding to Thackeray’s claims of the government’s “step-motherly treatment” of Marathwada, Fadnavis called them “laughable” and accused some parties of indulging in politics. On demands to declare a wet drought, he said, “It is not a question of wet drought. We are doing all that is needed as per the rules to provide relief.”

He added that compensations for house and crop damage, as well as death of cattle, will be provided separately according to standing orders. Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde questioned whether Thackeray had acted differently when he was Chief Minister.