No time for blame game on lack of warning on Jammu and Kashmir floods: Government

New Delhi: As the Central Water Commission faces the charge that it failed to issue any alert about the floods in Jammu and Kashmir, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said the time now was not for engaging in a blame game but to make concerted efforts to help the people of the state.

Singh, who holds various portfolios in the Narendra Modi government, including that of science and technology and the Department of Personnel, said, "It is not the occasion for blame game, who is responsible for what? I think that is also not the intention of the Centre.

"All of us have put our minds together to help the state (J-K). This is not the time to say who is responsible and who did not do what should have been done."

CWC falls under the Ministry of Water Resources, which is under the ministership of Singh's Cabinet colleague, Uma Bharati.

Singh, who is the MP from Jammu's Udhampur Lok Sabha seat, made the remarks while responding to questions from reporters on Tuesday.

Asked whether there was any failure on the part of the Centre and the state government in informing the people about the impending disaster, he said, "I am not prepared to find fault with anybody. It is the time for all of us to focus our energies and resources to help the state."

Singh said that the Centre is providing every help to Jammu and Kashmir in the flood relief operations.

"This is an unprecedented situation... We have been informed that BSNL has become active and hopefully in a day or two it (restoration of connectivity) will be done," he added.

Recent floods in Jammu and Kashmir has damaged rail, road and other basic infrastructure, including communication networks.

Heavy rainfall has led to floods in many areas of Jammu and K with nearly 200 lives lost so far in the calamity, which has also rendered thousands homeless in the state.

Meanwhile, talking about the weather forecast mechanism, Singh said that it had not failed and claimed that the predictions made by the Earth Sciences Department from June till now have been almost 100 per cent accurate.

"Our forecasting system today is world-class and many countries are trying to procure inputs from us," he said.