BELGAUM: The Congress on Sunday said that the BJP government totally failed in handling the drought situation as it was mired in internal disputes.
Opposition Leader in the State Assembly Siddaramaiah told reporters that though 123 taluks across the state are reeling under severe drought, the BJP government is not attending to the issue.
“The people of Bijapur and Bagalkot are migrating to other places and those remaining have to walk 3-4 km in search of water,” he said.
Siddaramaiah said that instead of meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the government completed its job by writing him a letter in this regard.
He said the government has not given an account of the funds released by the Union government under Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee scheme or utilised the `169 crore released for 2011-12.
He added that Union Minister Mallikarjun Kharge was in touch with the Maharashtra government which has assured the release of 1.5 TMC water.
“Water maybe made available early if the state government puts in its efforts,” said Siddaramaiah.
He added that his office got a letter from the government about holding an allparty meeting about the drought, but he would not attend it if the government kept communicating through letters.
Siddaramaiah said that three teams of the Congress will prepare a report on the drought, which will be presented to AICC president Sonia Gandhi, who will attend a programme at Siddhaganga Mutt in Tumkur on April 28.
DCC president Laxmi Hebbalkar and city unit president Asif (Raju) Sait were present.