Water-logging stirs up blame-game

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, June 14: After water-logging politicians are at loggerheads. There is none to take the blame as everybody puts the blame on others. Will this at all benefit the affected people?

The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) said that the severity of water-logging in the city yesterday reflects utter failure on the part of the BJP government at Dispur. Talking to newsmen at Rajiv Bhawan here today, Guwahati City District Congress Committee (GCDCC) president Kushal Kumar Sarma said: “The artificial flood has revealed failure on the part of Guwahati Development Department (GDD), Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC), Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), the local MP and local MLAs. The government came to power with the assurance of development and making Guwahati a smart city. However, rains have proved that they are not at all sincere in their statements, nor in performing their duty. Soon after coming to power, this government spoke of short-term and long-term schemes to solve the problem of water-logging in the city. They talked of starting schemes to do away with artificial floods in the city with Rs 400 crore from ADB. The government should make public if the assurances given by ministers and MLAs to put an end to water-logging in Guwahati by making various departments to work in sync with the GMC have been translated into reality. The Guwahati MP did make a public declaration that the party would put an end to water-logging in Guwahati within a month of coming to power. Has that been well accomplished? The MP should make what steps she has taken towards that end.”

Sarma, who was a former Guwahati Mayor, trained his gun at Mayor Mrigen Sarania, and said: “What steps has the Mayor taken to ensure regular supply of potable water, regular disposal of garbage, development of footpath, main roads and by-lanes and to put an end to water-logging in the city?  He should make all these public.”

Sarma criticized State Power Minister on the death of two persons due electrocution yesterday. He demanded of the government to pay compensation to the next of kin of the deceased.

AUIDF president Badruddin Ajmal, on the other hand, demanded of the government to publish a white paper on funds spent in the me of putting an end to artificial floods in the city for the past 16 years. In a statement issued to the press today, Ajmal said: “The water-logging in Guwahati yesterday has revealed the failure of the 15-year-long Congress government’s 'success story' and the failure of the one-year-old BJP government to keep its assurance of putting an end to water-logging. The artificial floods have proved it yet again that the GDD has failed utterly. The Congress government did claim to have done much to put an end to artificial floods in the city. However, no solution is in sight. The people of Guwahati have to suffer from water-logging. People losing life in artificial floods is unfortute. Water-logging is perennial. However, no scientific solution to the problem is found out as yet. The BJP government has also assured the people of putting an end to artificial flood in the city. MP Bijaya Chakraborty was on record saying that the Centre had taken schemes to put an end to artificial floods in Guwahati. The BJP has completed three years at the Centre and one year at Dispur. However, no tangible development is seen to have done by the two governments to solve the problem of artificial floods.”

Ajmal condoled the death of three persons yesterday, and demanded of the government to pay compensation to the next of kin of the deceased. He said: “Incidents of people dying in artificial floods, electrocution and landslides are not new, and the administration gives inquiry orders. However, the erring departments are never dealt with.” 

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