The Maharashtra government will strive to ensure that the rehabilitation of the flood-affected people in the state is done in record time, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in Mumbai on Thursday. He also said that efforts will be made to make the state completely drought-free by diverting rainwater from Konkan region to North Maharashtra and Marathwada as well as water from Wainganga river to Vidarbha by constructing a tunnel.

He was addressing a gathering after hoisting the tricolour on the premises of the Mantralaya, the state secretariat in Mumbai, on the 73rd Independence Day. "I would like to assure the people who lost their homes, livelihood in the floods that the government will strive to ensure that they are rehabilitated in record time," he said.