BJP team visits flood-hit areas
Radhakrishnan said the unregulated development on the waterways and encroachments on waterbodies triggered massive inundation
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-11-22 06:44 GMT
Chennai: Faulting the civic authorities for lacking a mechanism to face inundation during the northeast monsoon and also a comprehensive plan to regulate development on waterbodies, the BJP ministerial team that visited several areas affected by the deluge, claimed the local bodies administration could have averted the major catastrophe had they put in place disaster management plan ahead of the monsoon.
Though it cannot be disputed that heavy rains had lashed some districts in Tamil Nadu, it was clear that inundation and water-logging, still rampant in many areas for over a week, was due to the absence of a mechanism on the party of Chennai corporation or other municipal administrations to meet the situation.
“They should have learnt a lesson from the Thane cyclone that hit Cuddalore in 2011 and identified the vulnerable areas and saved the people. The corporation did not seem to know where the drains are… had they foreseen such a thing would not have happened,” Union minister of state for road transport, highways and shipping Pon Radhakrishnan said.
Also the relief work has been slack he alleged and said the unregulated development on the waterways and encroachments on waterbodies triggered massive inundation.
Transfer cash directly to account:
He favoured the direct transfer of cash to the flood-hit families instead of distributing cash doles. “In Cuddalore, I was told that Rs 5,000 was paid as compensation by the administration to all irrespective of whether the person suffered a loss or not. Hence people are now demanding proper relief,” he said and added that it would be better if cash is credited directly to the beneficiaries account.
Union minister faces ire of rain displaced families
Union commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman faced the ire of the flood-affected people of Tambaram and Mudichur on Saturday during her visit of Kancheepuram district to assess the havoc caused by the northeast monsoon.
The people, who were visibly upset over the unfortunate turn of events and lack of help, apprised the Union minister, who was accompanied by BJP state president Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan, and said they have been living in their houses marooned by contaminated water. The local officials failed to warn them of flooding and no steps have been taken to bail out the drainage water from their houses. Further, the lack of proper drainage had compounded their problems and the relief work has been slack, they complained. “I would not want to conclude on it... I have heard a lot from people both about short and long-term problems, definitely there are lot of lessons to learn,” Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters.
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