AT least 45 people have died till now due to heavy rains in Maharashtra. These deaths are due to drowning, wall and house collapses, and electrocution. A twenty-year old woman worker, the sole provider for her family, was electrocuted to death in Surat when she touched an electric pole on the street.
Such deaths every year during monsoons belie the tall claims of “development” in states like Maharashtra and Gujarat. They expose the dismal state of basic safety in India’s cities, and the callousness and irresponsibility of Governments.
Basic civic maintenance can help to avoid most of such deaths. These deaths cannot be blamed on the rains - it is the systematic neglect of State and Central Governments which are responsible.
