NGO seeks Mumbai winter session instead of Nagpur amid drought, says Rs 300-400 crore can aid victims

Drought-like conditions prevail in Maharashtra because of El Nino. Against this backdrop, the NGO 'earth' has demanded that this year's winter session be held in Mumbai instead of Nagpur. The organisation says the Rs 300 crore to Rs 400 crore saved should be used to help people struggling with the drought. The organisation holds special consultative status with the United Nations (ECOSOC).

Its founder-president, Pravin Kalme, has sent a letter by e-mail to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Chief Secretary Rajesh Agrawal. The letter asks for a decision on three demands by 30 October. The organisation has warned that if no decision is taken, it will approach the Governor, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and the Chairman of the Legislative Council directly.

The organisation estimates that holding the session in Nagpur costs at least Rs 300 crore to Rs 400 crore on offices, officers, employees and police, covering their travel, stay and transport. It demands that the government make the actual figure public. It said the tradition of the Nagpur Agreement should not be broken, but an exception should be made this time because it is a drought year. The letter recalls that the winter sessions of 2020 and 2021 were held in Mumbai during Covid. According to the letter, the power to decide the venue of the session rests with the Governor under Article 174(1) of the Constitution.

The second demand concerns water. A 10 per cent cut in water supply has been in force in the state since 16 October, yet fresh-water connections for construction work remain active. The organisation wants only STP-treated water to be made mandatory for construction, ready-mix concrete, vehicle washing and swimming pools until the 2027 monsoon. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation cut construction connections on 16 June 2026, after stocks in the lakes fell to 10.35 per cent. The organisation says the same decision should apply across the state.

The third demand concerns tankers and wells. About 1,000 tankers are now running daily in Jalna, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Dharashiv. The government itself has told the central team that the number could rise to 5,000. Of 171 tankers in Marathwada, 168 are privately owned. The organisation therefore demands that the government take over all wells, borewells and tankers in the 265 talukas declared drought-hit, paying fair compensation under Sections 24, 34, 65 and 66 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and control them by GPS so that black-marketing of water is stopped.

The organisation first warned of El Nino on 29 April. It then sent letters on 22 September, 26 September, 15 October and 23 October, five letters in all. It claims it has received no written reply to any of them.

Kalme said: "El Nino is a global crisis, and nobody is to blame for it. But how to face it is in our hands." He also said that in December the state's money and attention should be on citizens who live on tankers, and that this is the only demand.