Rains unfold unfettered fury in Maharashtra

Maharashtra witnessed unimaginable loss of life and property due to heavy rain , especially in the Konkan and the western part of the state. The week in Maharashtra began under the shadow of clouds, listening to whistling winds but soon the scene changed and a large part of the state came under the disaster which nature unleashed. Political and economic issues receded in background and rescue and relief of affected people became paramount in the priorities of state and local authorities.

Chief Minister Uddahav Thackeray, after a review meeting, said the erratic climate has forced the government to ponder over a new definition of floods. He said that rain, floods, water are not new to the people in this area but what happened this time was unimaginable. As per government figures updated till Saturday, the death toll from the torrential rains that battered Pune and Konkan divisions, triggering land slides in some areas stands 112 including 52 in the coastal Raigad district alone. NDRF has retrieved a total of 73 bodies from these areas with the highest number of 44 from the worst hit Taliye village in Mahad tehsil of Raigad. Relief work is going on round the clock and Army, Navy and Air force are involved  in the work of evacuation of  stranded people and restoring the traffic from Maharashtra to Goa and Karnataka. With some respite from the rains , situation in affected areas is now limping back to normalcy.

Maharashtra records zero vaccine wastage 
Maharashtra had a Zero wastage of Covid-19 vaccine doses between May 1  to July 13, 2021. This was stated by the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry in a written reply  in Lok Sabha. According to the reply, eight states have recorded wastage of vaccine doses, with Bihar topping the list at 1,26,743 doses.Maharashtra also stands second in the list of free vaccine supply by the Central government. The number of  Covid-19 vaccine doses supplied to Maharashtra is 3,14,78,860 while that to Uttar Pradesh is 3, 44,61,550.

Bombay HC also pulled the Maharashtra govt 

The state govt could not get any relief from the Bombay high court. The Maharashtra government had pleaded for dropping two paragraphs in the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) FIR related to the probe against former state home minister Anil Deshmukh and other unknown persons. Dismissing the Maharashtra government petition,the Bombay high court said that the CBI can legitimately investigate alleged corruption, transfers and posting of police officers and reinstatement of controversial police officer Sachin Vaze. A division bench of Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar however held that the order of division bench cannot be “an unfettered authority to CBI” and the investigation has to be carried on under the law of the land. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, however, opposed it and said a stay would amount to interference with the investigation.