Shabbir slams CM KCR for preferring politics over flood relief
Hyderabad, July 27: Former Minister & ex-Leader of Opposition in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir has accused the TRS Government of not conducting proper enumeration of losses due to rains and floods.
Shabbir Ali, in a media statement on Wednesday, alleged that the State Government has failed to activate the mechanism to conduct a proper enumeration of losses caused due to recent rains and floods. “The report sent by the State Government to the Centre on losses of Rs 1,400 crore suffered by various departments due to heavy rains and floods was just preliminary and incomplete. No serious efforts are being made by the State Government to enumerate the actual losses, especially the losses suffered by farmers,” he alleged.
The Congress leader said that the actual losses were much higher than what was estimated a week ago. He said various parts of Telangana have been receiving rainfall continuously for the last 10-15 days. Hundreds of colonies have been inundated while thousands of houses were permanently or temporarily damaged. In addition to the losses caused to standing crops, saplings were damaged in many districts. He said crops spread across lakhs of acres of land have been damaged. Instead of conducting a detailed enumeration, the State Government is trying to understate the damage by coming up with an estimated figure, he said.
Shabbir Ali said that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao did not handle the flood situation properly. “CM KCR did not react to the weather predictions to alert the district administration. He woke up from his slumber only after rains and floods played havoc in many districts. He conducted a review meeting as a formality and made a symbolic visit to Bhadrachalam. To divert people’s attention, he alleged an ‘international conspiracy’ behind the cloud burst,” he said.
He said that the Chief Minister did not conduct a meeting to check the status of flood relief works. He said a majority of flood-affected people did not get the promised financial assistance from the State Government. “Even officials at the ground level have realised that they won’t be held responsible for any lapses. When the Chief Minister himself is not serious, why would the officials at the lower level fear any action? Therefore, instead of taking up the relief and rehabilitation measures seriously, the local administration was managing with rough estimates of damages, instead of ascertaining figures of actual losses,” he said.
Shabbir Ali asked CM KCR to justify the reason for his visit to Delhi at this juncture. “KCR is more interested in pursuing his political ambitions than showing any concern towards the lakhs of people affected due to heavy rains and floods. He should’ve monitored the flood situation on a daily basis. If his visit to Delhi was so urgent, then he should’ve visited the national capital with the wishlist for various ministries seeking relief for the damages. Strangely, CM KCR did not seek appointment from Prime Minister Narendra Modi or any other Union Minister to submit a memorandum regarding flood relief package,” he said.
The Congress leader also condemned the BJP Govt at the Centre for not announcing any relief package for Telangana. As against the estimated losses of over Rs. 1400 crore, the State Government has reportedly sought Rs. 1,000 crore relief on an immediate basis. An inter-ministerial Central team has already visited the flood-affected areas a few days ago. Therefore, the Central Govt should announce the relief package without further delay, he demanded.