BHUBANESWAR: As the pounding rain has compounded the misery of residents in large parts of the city and the municipal administration has done a vanishing act, the State BJP lashed out at the BJD government for leaving the citizens to fend for themselves.
After an exhaustive tour of waterlogged areas in the city, Bhubaneswar BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi accused the local administration and elected representatives of the ruling BJD of deserting the people when they need them the most. The administration is yet to reach the people who have been struggling hard for two days to cope with the situation after rainwater entered their houses, she alleged.
“Went to Bhubaneswar railway station area this morning. No drains, no disposal. Suffering everywhere. Tell us - we are there to support you. But governance is yours. Pl wake up from ‘Kumbhakaran’ slumber; 21 YEARS! Residents of Bhubaneswar will have to take to streets,” Aparajita tweeted. Coming down heavily on the government, the bureaucrat-tuned-politician said had the government worked on the drainage development plan as advised by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Urban Development, things could have been different.
Circulating her February 11, 2020 letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on the waterlogging and drainage problems in the city in social media, the BJP MP said a comprehensive master plan and its execution are the need of the hour to combat the recurring problems.She said the plan prepared by Meinhardt, Singapore in 2008, partly addresses the requirement but it lacks in terms of detailing and is inadequate as it does not factor in a lot of essential requirements including land acquisition costs.
While the aforementioned plan proposes construction of natural drains in two phases, the need for construction of all internal drains and making them part of the overall plan for effective discharge of stormwater has not been fully considered, the findings said.
Responding to Sarangi’s Sunday tweet, BJD general secretary Shreemayee Mishra said the Bhubaneswar MP and former IAS officer was herself responsible for the current situation. Mishra said this is the outcome of the planning of Sarangi as BMC Commissioner during her tenure in the office.