BJP Blames Odisha Govt For Recent Floods, Releases ‘Chargesheet’

Bhubaneswar: Holding the BJD government responsible for recent floods in Odisha, the BJP on Thursday said the state faced unprecedented calamity due to its indifference, negligence, inefficiency and failure to ensure coordination within the administration.

“We have already termed the floods in Mahanadi and other rivers as man-made. The Odisha government not only failed to ensure proper coordination with Chhattisgarh but also among different authorities within itself,” BJP’s state General Secretary Prithviraj Harichandan said at a presser in Bhubaneswar.

He said the state BJP has prepared a ‘Chargesheet’ against the government detailing mismanagement of the flood situation based on the experiences and observations made by party leaders who visited different flood-affected areas of the state.

As the ‘Chargesheet’ was released, state BJP President Samir Mohanty said that the failure of the state government, which caused untold miseries to the people in flood-hit areas, will be placed before the masses.

Accusing the state government of having failed to manage the flood situation due to lack of preparedness, Harichandan claimed that the BJD regime neglected the affected people who were deprived of proper relief and assistance.

Noting that floods in the Mahanadi river basin created havoc in many districts, he said the deluge caused loss of lives and properties, while farmers were hit hard as they lost the year’s produce because of failure on the part of the government to take preventive measures and prompt steps.

“The devastating flood in the Mahanadi river system was the outcome of the state government’s inability to effectively manage water in the Hirakud dam,” the BJP leader added.

The state was hit by a flood situation due to lack of coordination with Chhattisgarh and violation of the ‘rule curve’ in Hirakud dam water management, he said, adding that the government failed to hold the much-required meetings with Chhattisgarh for proper management of water flow in Mahanadi during monsoon in recent years.

Stating that the ‘rule curve’ for specifying the storage of water in the Hirakud reservoir at different times of the year was framed way back in 1962, he said the state government took no measure to suitably amend it during all these years.

The government also violated the rule curve and never bothered to adhere to the guidelines laid down therein. Sluice gates of Hirakud dam were always being operated in an arbitrary manner, posing a serious threat to the people living in the Mahanadi river basin, Harichandan alleged.

Moreover, there was a lack of coordination among different authorities within the government which was amply clear from contradictory statements given by the Water Resources Minister and senior engineers and officers, he claimed.

Stating that the National Disaster Mitigation Authority (NDMA) had developed a flood management policy in 2008, the BJP leader said the state government failed to follow the manual prepared as per the policy guidelines.

Accusing the state government of having failed to ensure regular inspection of different river embankments, Harichandan said it never took any step for strengthening and repairing important structures like river embankments.

In the aftermath of the devastating floods, the government failed to undertake relief work and provide assistance to the people in the affected areas even days after the flood.

The BJP leader demanded that the BJD government tender an apology to the people of the state for its failure to manage the flood situation and provide proper relief to the affected people.