The Opposition Congress has accused the ruling BJP Government in the State of not providing sufficient relief to the farmers who first faced a drought like situation and are now facing repeated floods.
Expressing concern over the situation created by the unprecedented flood, State Congress president Bhupesh Baghel and leader of Opposition TS Singh Deo said the entire State had been under the grip of floods due to excessive rains.Mahanadi, Shivnath, Arapa, Kharun, Hansdev and Jonk river and the nullahs such as Khorsi, Manichori, Ghogra and Jamuniya have been overflowing, they stated. “The communication between the villages and district headquarters and district headquarters to State headquarters have been cut off,” they claimed.
The Surguja division, Baloda Bazar , Bilaspur division, Janjgir, Raigarh districts have been worse hit by the floods, they stated, adding, ‘water logging has forced thousands of people to take refuge in schools and and high rise buildings.’The situation is very frightening as large number of people have lost everything. The flood water now triggered a risk of outbreak of infectious diseases. Rainfall has ruined the paddy and soybeans crops. Farmers have suffered extensive losses in Baloda Bazar, Batapara, Simga, Griabandh, Kanker, Bastar and Janjgir due to heavy rains, the leaders stated.
As per rules, Disaster Management Planning was supposed to be done two months prior to the start of monsoon season. But the State Disaster Management Department was never seen active, they said.Baghel and Singh Deo have demanded that the government should survey the damage caused by the flood in the affected areas on a war footing and provide necessary relief to the victims from the State Disaster Relief Fund.