Monsoon preparedness: Palghar administration directed to stock up on foodgrains, medicines

Maharashtra Minister Ganesh Naik has directed the Palghar district administration to ensure adequate food grain stocks and medicines, and emergency response systems in remote areas ahead of the monsoon season, officials said on Saturday.

Maharashtra Minister Ganesh Naik has directed the Palghar district administration to ensure adequate food grain stocks and medicines, and emergency response systems in remote areas ahead of the monsoon season, officials said on Saturday. Naik, who is the guardian minister of the district, held a pre-monsoon review and kharif planning meeting at the District Collector's office on Friday. ''Citizens in remote villages and hamlets should not face shortages even if they remain cut off for seven to eight days due to heavy rains,'' an official release quoted Naik as saying. He instructed officials to maintain adequate stocks of food grains, tea, sugar, biscuits and other essentials in vulnerable areas and directed primary health centres to stock essential medicines, including injections for snake bites, in sufficient quantities. The minister called for special vigilance regarding exposed electrical wires, transformers and waterlogging-prone spots in urban areas. Naik also asked officials to identify flood ''hotspots'' in advance and strengthen disaster preparedness measures to ensure immediate assistance reaches citizens during emergencies. The administration was also instructed to intensify public awareness campaigns through social, print and electronic media regarding disaster management protocols and safety precautions during floods, the release added. Palghar MP Hemant Savra, Collector Indu Rani Jakhar, Vasai-Virar City Municipal Commissioner Prithviraj B P and other senior officials attended the meeting.