Maharashtra Assembly proceedings adjourned in Nagpur due to power blackout following heavy rains

Nagpur: The Maharashtra Assembly could not function in Nagpur on Friday due to a power blackout caused by the rains, prompting an attack on the government by ally Shiv Sena as well as the opposition parties. Both the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council were adjourned for the day, shortly after convening this morning as there was darkness. The power supply had been turned off after the switching centre that provides electricity to the Assembly complex was flooded following heavy rains in the city. Nagpur, considered the second capital of Maharashtra, usually hosts the winter session of the assembly every year and it is for the first time since 1961 that the monsoon session is being held there. Nagpur city received heavy rainfall on Thursday night and when the Assembly met at 10 am on Friday, there was darkness.

Water-logging inside Nagpur Vidhan Sabha compound following heavy rain in the city. #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/WxAVt4KhRC

— ANI (@ANI) July 6, 2018

Speaker Haribhau Bagde adjourned the House for an hour, saying the switching centre had to be turned off due to flooding in its panel located underground. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis then called a meeting other leaders of various parties in the Speaker’s chamber, where a decision was taken to adjourn the House for the day, education minister Vinod Tawde told reporters. At 11 am, when the House reconvened, the security staff had to switch on the mobile phone lights to enable the Speaker to reach to seat. Bagde then announced that the House has to be adjourned for the day. Leaders of the opposition Congress and NCP wanted to speak but in the absence of electricity, the mikes were not functioning and therefore, they were not audible. Similarly, when the Legislative Council met at noon, its Chairman Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar adjourned the House for the day. Talking to PTI later, the chief minister said, “The city receives heavy rainfall two-three times during monsoon. But today’s rains are very heavy. The switching centre has always been underground and it was flooded.” Interestingly, in 1961, when the monsoon session of the state legislature was held in Nagpur for the first time, the House had been adjourned before the time when it was debating Maharashtra Decentralisation (of powers and functions to district councils) Bill, 1961. As per the records, due to power failure, the lights went off and after waiting for eight minutes, the House was adjourned before its scheduled time. Shiv Sena, an ally of the ruling BJP, was quick to criticise the government over the development. “Nagpur is the second capital of the state and an important city. Nagpur Municipal Corporation is run by the BJP. It should have provided basic infrastructure to ensure rains don’t obstruct the proceedings of the legislature session,” Shiv Sena’s leader in the house Sunil Prabhu told reporters. “Had this happened in Mumbai, there would have been a barrage of criticism against the Sena-run Mumbai civic body. Everybody would have demanded an inquiry against the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC),” he added. Prabhu said the area where all ministerial bungalows and residential quarters of legislators are located is also flooded. Energy Minister Chandrashekar Bawankule said the switching centre had to be shut to avoid any technical problem which would have led to the hazardous situation. “The water level is receding and we hope the situation will be normalised,” he said. He said it was for the first time that rains had affected the proceedings of the legislature in such a manner. “This may have happened because the drainage was not cleaned,” the minister said. He said there was power supply in the rest of the city. “We were not sure if generators can take an entire load of Vidhan Bhavan premises,” he said. Talking to reporters, senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar said, “Whatever happened today is wrong and condemnable. It is sad that speaker Haribhau Bagde had to personally monitor the removal of water from the switching centre panel.” He said the government delayed its decision to hold the monsoon session in Nagpur and there was little time for the authorities to make arrangements. “This is the government’s failure that it could not manage proceedings of the monsoon session, where 288 MLAs have come to put up issues concerning people,” he said. NCP MLA and former minister Bhaskar Jadhav said, “This government has been fully exposed. It decided that the monsoon session will be held in Nagpur. Should it not have made all the arrangements to put the disaster management systems in place?