10,000 Litres For Helipad As Minister Visits Drought-Hit Maharashtra: Activist

Bhiwandi: In Maharashtra, which is battling severe drought, 10,000 litres of water was used in preparing a make-shift helipad for a union minister's chopper, a BJP activist has alleged in a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh attended the "Kisan Gram Sabha" on Sunday at Bhiwandi, 33 km from Mumbai.  For his chopper to land, thousands of litres were used to level the ground, wrote Dayanand Nene, attaching photographs of what he described as a colossal waste.
 "What I saw was terribly disturbing. Gallons of water through water tankers was being poured on a huge piece of land, which later I understood was a make-shift helipad being put in place for the helicopter to land," Mr Nene said, pointing out that the minister could have flown to neighbouring Thane - just 20 minutes away - and driven to the function.

"It would have saved 10,000 litres of water - very important as the entire area is reeling under a 60 per cent water cut," complained the activist.

With large parts of the state battling drought and a crisis of drinking water, the state announced earlier this month that water supply to Thane next to Mumbai would be disconnected for up to 60 hours each week. Officials are considering raising that limit to 70 hours.

In the past few days, state ministers Eknath Khadse and Pankaja Munde have been lashed by criticism for similar reasons.

Thousands of litres of water were allegedly used to level the ground for a helipad when Mr Khadse took a chopper to Latur last week, ironically to review the drought situation.

His colleague Pankaja Munde was skewered on social media for taking a 'drought selfie' while touring Marathwada, the worst affected part of the state.

Because of the crisis, a court recently banned Indian Premier League (IPL) matches in the state after a petition questioned water being used to prepare pitches.