Sunday, 30 JULY 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The leader of opposition (LoP) in State assembly Yashpal Arya has demanded that the government should convene the meeting of the State disaster management committee without any delay. He said that the district disaster management committees should be set up in all the districts. In a statement, Arya said on Saturday that the huge devastation in the first phase of monsoon has proved that the government has completely failed. He said that the water logging in Dehradun and Haridwar and electrocution tragedy in Chamoli which claimed 16 lives have exposed the State government. The LoP claimed that the meeting of the State disaster management committee has not been held for almost a year which reflects the apathetic attitude of the government. This committee is headed by the chief minister and responsible for disaster management, coordination and policy decisions at the time of disaster, he added.
Referring to the recent viral video in which the Assembly speaker was asking for help in the aftermath of the collapse of the bridge on Malan River in Kotdwar, he said that it points towards the sorry state of affairs in Uttarakhand.
The LoP said that after the recent calamity, the CM was forced to order the ministers in charge to visit their respective districts. “The ministers have also returned to the State capital after completing the formalities of ‘disaster tourism’ instead of ‘disaster management’ in their respective districts,’’ he said. Arya said that recent events suggest that the government has failed in disaster forecasting, timely rescue, relief and rehabilitation.
He said that the government has announced compensation to the farmers but the fact remains that the farmers have not received the compensation for the crops destroyed by last year’s floods. Arya alleged that the insurance companies are collecting premiums for the crops from the farmers, but are not giving compensation for the damages due to the destruction of the crops in the calamity.
The LoP said that the situation is also bad in the mountainous districts where the crops like apple, tomato and others got destroyed in the fields
He said that drinking water lines, residential houses, main roads and link roads have suffered heavy damage due to landslides and water ingress at various places. It is impossible to restore this entire infrastructure without interdepartmental coordination and assistance from the Centre, he added.
