Sharad Pawar says VIPs should avoid visits to flood-affected areas

NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said visits by VIPs to flood-affected regions should be avoided as they affect rescue and relief operations. Talking to reporters about his party's contribution to the flood relief work, Pawar said he can say based on his personal experience that people who are not directly linked to the relief operations should avoid such visits. These VIP visits put unnecessary pressure on local machinery and authorities and divert their focus from rescue and evacuation work, the former Union minister said.

On Maharashtra Governor B S Koshyari's visit to flood-affected areas on Tuesday, Pawar quipped that may be he will help the state get funds and more compensation from the Central government. The NCP will send medical teams and relief material to flood-affected people in state In the next two-three days, Pawar said. The death toll in rain-related incidents in Maharashtra rose to 192 on Monday after the recovery of 28 more bodies, most of them in Raigad, the state government said. So far, 2,29,074 persons have been evacuated from the flood and rain-affected affected areas and moved to safer places, the government said in a statement.