Cong calls Orissa flood as man-made, blames govt

Terming the severe floods in Orissa as man-made, Congress on Tuesday accused BJD government in the state of failing to provide relief to marooned people after exposing its inability in preventing the calamity.

Bhubaneswar: Terming the severe floods
in Orissa as man-made, Congress on Tuesday accused BJD government
in the state of failing to provide relief to marooned people
after exposing its inability in preventing the calamity.
"The devastating flood in Mahanadi river system was
nothing but man-made. It was the outcome of state government`s
inability to properly manage water in Hirakud dam," Orissa
Pradesh Congress Committee President Niranjan Patnaik told
reporters here.

The sudden floods could have been averted if the
government had taken timely action in managing water in
Hirakud reservoir in an effective manner, he said after a
Congress team visited several flood-ravaged areas.

Hitting out at the Naveen Patnaik regime for the
manner in which flood situation was handled, Patnaik alleged
the government`s role in undertaking relief and rescue
operation in the aftermath of the floods was also dismal.

Plight of lakhs of flood-hit people was multiplied as
the administration was ill prepared to deal with the
situation, the Congress leader further alleged relief
materials could not be sent to the marooned people as most of
the boats available for the purpose were non-functional.

In several areas relief materials were yet to reach,
while boatmen were not available in many cases for running the
vessels with relief materials, he claimed.

A large number of breaches took place in Mahanadi
river system submerging almost half of the state as the
government failed to repair and strengthen embankments at weak
points, Patnaik alleged.
Fear of outbreak of water-borne diseases loomed large
in the absence of safe drinking water and food, the Congress
leader said asking the state government to carry out relief
work on a war footing.

PTI

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