little relief after Phailin, says BJP; slams Govt

The State Government is only making tall claims in handling the post-Phailin and post-flood damages, but it has totally failed in carrying out its responsibility,” said Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State president KV Singh Deo at a media meet here on Friday after returning from the flood-affected Mayurbhanj district.  

Singh Deo said there is a heaven and hell difference between reality and the claims of the Government in handling the flood situation in the State. The Government overestimated the cyclone and underestimated the floods, as a result of which relief material could not be made available to the victims, he alleged.

He also alleged that the BDOs and tehsildars of many blocks were on holidays even though Durga Puja vacation of Government employees had been suspended. “Accessibility to rice is a distant dream for people who do not even have a candle to light up the nights. Their life has gone into a deep darkness because of the Government’s mismanagement,” he said.

Besides, more than four lakh houses have been destroyed by the twin disasters, but no help has been rendered by the Government, for which the people who have left the relief camps are spending nights under open skies or along roads, Singh Deo said and asked why the Government is delaying to take action against the ruling BJD corporators of Cuttack involved in swindling of relief material.

He demanded that the State Government ensure work to agricultural labourers who have lost their jobs due to loss of crop in six lakh hectares of paddy field and announcement of a special package for farmers who have lost their crops.