The Comptroller and Auditors General's (CAG) audit report for Maharashtra tabled on the floor of the state legislature on 18 April has scrutinised the post-flood disaster relief expenditure in the year 2005 and 2006. Performance audit of the expenditure on preparedness for flood and relief and rehabilitation to the flood victims indicated that the level of preparedness of flood was not adequate; relief assistance was extended without proper identification of affected persons, financial management was deficient and monitoring of relief and rehabilitation activities was unsatisfactory.

But this audit has also gone a step beyond just reporting the financial irregularities, by training a lens on the causes of floods turning out to be disasters. It shows how multi purpose projects – where one purpose is flood control – will fail to insure people against flood disasters unless our planners integrate thinking on drainage and upstream-downstream linkages.

No lessons were learnt from flood disaster of 2005, and the VHF system in Nanded and Sangli district – and three talukas of Kolhapur district - was found non functional during the subsequent flood disaster of 2006.

In urban residential areas, rain water doesn't run off easily s it does creating rivulets in the countryside. Stormwater drains provide the way out to water that would otherwise clog the tarred streets and concreted floors.

Pre-monsoon drainage cleaning exercises need to be carried out to ensure that stormwater drains would discharge drainwater upto their designed capacity.


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