Eight dead as floods ravage Marathwada, thousands marooned

Mumbai: Eight people have died so far in the unprecedented floods due to extremely heavy rains in Marathwada which has inundated homes, marooned thousands of villages and destroyed thousands of hectares of crops. Beed, Darashiv and Madha in Solapur have been the most affected.

The floods have led to calls from farmers and the Opposition to seek financial help from the state and Centre. The Maharashtra government is caught in a difficult situation as the extent of the damage is enormous and it may find it hard to assuage public expectations from Marathwada unless the Centre pitches in.

"When a crisis like this happens, both the government and Centre should help out those affected by compensating the farmers. The Centre has a policy for such calamities...," said Sharad Pawar of Nationalist Congress Party (SP).

Uddhav Thackeray of Sena (UBT) demanded that the Centre announce an immediate package of ₹10,000 crore for Marathwada. "The state government should not waste time assessing the damages and studying the rules of compensation but immediately help farmers," said Thackeray.