New Delhi: Accusing the government of not
doing enough for flood-affected people of Andhra Pradesh and
Karnataka, BJP on Wednesday demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh visit the region and also sanction Rs 20,000 crore
instead of insufficient funds from the Calamity Relief Fund.
"The Congress President has visited the flood-affected
areas which is fine. But the Prime Minister is the head of the
government ... The people are disappointed that he has not
visited them," senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said.
Naidu said the Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh
governments were doing a good job in dealing with the
devastation caused by floods but added the Centre should
extend liberal help to them without any discrimination.
"This is not the time to score any browny political
points. There should be focused and coordinated effort for
relief and rehabilitation," he said.
Estimating the devastation at Rs 20,000 crore, Naidu
said the Central government should sanction Rs 5,000 crore
each to both the states to deal with the "colossal loss".
The Rajya Sabha MP took a dig at Home Minister P
Chidambaram's comment that there were enough funds, saying
sanctioning Rs 200 crore from the Calamity Relief Fund was
not sufficient as it would last "only 2-3 days".
Naidu said government should rush potable drinking
water and fodder for cattle by train to the affected region.
"The government should immediately send a central team
there," he demanded.
The senior leader said the government should take up
interlinking of rivers without any further delay.
"A Task Force headed by (union minister in NDA
government) Suresh Prabhu was appointed to study the
feasibility of interlinking of rivers. Around Rs 5,00,000
crore would be required for interlinking of rivers but this
is not a big thing for a country like India," Naidu said.
When asked about Union Environment Minister Jairam
Ramesh terming the idea of interlinking rivers as
"disastrous", Naidu said, "We will be enlightened if he throws
some more light on it".
He demanded that the Prime Minister call a meeting of
Chief Ministers to discuss the issue.
"Interlinking of rivers is the solution. I think no
state will oppose it," he added.
The BJP leader said though interlinking of rivers
would lead to displacement of people, "projects cannot be
stopped in the name of rehabilitation".
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, October 07, 2009, 19:50