Mumbai, May 30 (IANS): With massive water scarcity hitting large parts of the state, the Maharashtra Congress leaders will embark on an inspection tour of the worst-hit regions from Friday and submit ground reports to the government, state Congress chief Nana Patole said here on Wednesday.

Patole said that the drought situation in the state is so severe that in many parts people don't have even drinking water for the past two-three weeks with nearly 75 per cent of the state facing alarming water shortages.

“The MahaYuti government is not concerned with the people's problems despite the critical situation. Accordingly, Congress leaders shall go on a tour of all the seriously affected areas from May 31, assess the actual ground situation, and submit reports to the respective divisional commissioners,” Patole told mediapersons.

Adding to the drinking water woes is the problem of insufficient fodder for livestock that has hit the farming community owing to the government’s apathy and corruption, Patole claimed.

“The tanker mafia is flourishing. The government says the water tankers are fitted with GPS, but the GPS is removed and fitted to motorcycles, and water doesn’t reach the targeted regions or the suffering masses," Patole contended.

Challenging the government’s claims that the drought relief was hampered due to the model code of conduct, he pointed out that it can still be done after obtaining permission from the Election Commission of India.

Top Congress leaders will start the drought impact tours in different parts of the state, meet the people, the farmers, and other affected sections, and prepare detailed reports of the respective regions, which would be followed up by another tour in early June, he said.

Patole would helm the tours in the Marathwada region, Balasaheb Thorat in North Maharashtra, Prithviraj Chavan in Western Maharashtra, Vijay Wadettiwar and Yashomati Thakur in Vidarbha, while M. Arif Naseem Khan will tour the coastal Konkan region.