Post Malin tragedy, State steps up disaster managementOffer on homes in Nashik-10:70:10:10 scheme & free 40gmgoldcoin onbooking3,4 BHK from 56Lacsashokastoria.com/by-Peninsula-LandAds by GooglePTIPRINTTTinShare1Villages prone to natural calamities will be identified: Maharastra CM

A complete study of Maharashtra would be conducted to identify villages prone to natural calamities in the aftermath of the landslide at Malin near Pune, MaharashtraChief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has said.We will be doing a complete study of the State to find out if there are other villages that are prone to natural disasters. I have instructed my officials to conduct a survey and submit a report, Chavan told PTI in an interview here.The governments focus is to find survivors in the Malin tragedy after which a long term plan will be looked at, he said.The landslide, which flattened about 45 villages at Malin near Pune and virtually wiped the village off themap, has so far claimed 151 lives, including 59 men, 71 women and 21 children. Carcasses of 50 animals too have been extricated in the rescue operation.Man-made disasterMeanwhile, activists and nature conservationists have slammed the state governments pro-development plan, saying that development at the cost of nature is the trigger for such natural disasters.The main cause of these natural disasters is the government. I would call them man-made disasters. The government should realise that their development policies are killing people, said Debi Goenka, executive trustee of Mumbai-based NGO Conservation Action Trust, which is working to protect biodiversity and forests in the state.Sudheendra Kulkarni, chairman of Observer Research Foundation Mumbai, said, all over India, there is rampant deforestation and felling of trees which are causing landslides, soil erosion and diversion of the courses of rivers that are leading to terrible calamities for the common people, he said.If you want to prevent future landslides, there must be very strict regulations on cutting of trees and forests for development in the region, especially in areas that are vulnerable to such disasters, he added.PTI