The state government found itself cornered in the state assembly on Thursday with the Opposition MLAs rapping the ruling party and accusing it of utter mismanagement in handling flood.
Alleging that the devastating flood that hit the state in two spells was man-made, the Opposition held that the disaster could have been avoided.
Initiating the adjournment motion on the flood situation, the Opposition Chief Whip Prasad Harichandan said, “The flood could have been avoided. Even experts are of the view that the two back to back floods are human created.”
“The signs of flood were noticed in August but the government did not bother to open the gates of the Hirakud reservoir. There are allegations that the government refrained from opening the gates under pressure from the industrial groups. The government stored water in the Hirakud reservoir only for the interest of the industrial players,” he added. He also alleged there was violation of Rule curve in maintaining water level at the Hirakud reservoir level. Echoing similar views, senior BJP leader Jaynarayan Mishra said, “This government has completely failed in flood management. The flood was man-made and could have been averted.”
S N Patra, minister for revenue and disaster management defending his government, trashed allegations of the flood being man made and said the state government had taken the best possible steps to offer rescue and relief to affected people. Explaining the cause of flood, he said, “The flood was triggered by the low pressure which developed in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, on September 8. This brought heavy rain, resulting in rise in water level in the Hirakud reservoir. The water level at this reservoir reached its peak at 629.27 ft on September 10 and keeping in view the security aspect, the authorities opened 59 gates of the reservoir.”
Then there was a depression in the Bay of Bengal on September 22-23 which flooded Subarnarekha river. The minister said the floods affected 1,405 villages under 122 blocks in 21 districts, ravaging 178,491 dwelling houses. According to reports submitted by collectors of affected districts, 87 people lost their lives in the two devastating floods that affected 278,005.94 hectares of cultivable area.
Commenting on the state government's rescue and relief operations, Patra said, “The state despatched 10 teams of Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) at the time of flood. As many as 2,064 boats were deployed to evacuate people from inaccessible areas to safe locations. During the relief operations, we evacuated 2.8 lakh people in the first spell of flood and 1.74 lakh people in the second spell.” The state government has also requested the Government of India to release Rs 3,265.38 crore including Rs 2,120.92 crore for the first spell of flood and Rs 1,144.46 crore for the second spell, the minister informed the state assembly.
