Bhupesh Baghel calls Punjab floods ‘man-made disaster’; blames state govt negligence, slams Centre over relief delay

TARN TARAN : Stating that the floods in Punjab are a a man-made disaster that led to large scale devastation in major parts of the state, former Chhattisgarh chief minister and the Congress general secretary in-charge of Punjab Bhupesh Bhagel said that the timely action could have prevented major losses.Accompanied by senior party leaders including the PCC president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, the CLP leader Partap Singh Bajwa, former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and others, Bhagel visited several areas affected by floods and interacted with people there. Bhagel, who is on a two-day visit to Punjab to assess the flood situation and review relief efforts by party workersHe said Punjab has been badly devastated by floods and reiterated his party’s demand for a comprehensive and substantial flood relief package for the state.

He also regretted the delay on part of the centre government to provide interim relief for the flood hit people.He said that the state government and the administration cannot escape the responsibility for not taking preventive and precautionary measures in advance.“There has been complete negligence on part of the state government and the administration under it to visualize the situation in view of the forecast of an above normal monsoon this year”, Bhagel observed, adding that “We were already neck deep in water and the state government was caught napping”.

The senior Congress leader regretted that both the state and the central governments still seem to be indifferent towards the plight of the flood-hit people in Punjab. While the state administration is as good as collapsed, the central government has also been very insensitive and indifferent.He questioned the unusual delay in providing an immediate relief package for the flood-hit people. He said, while the comprehensive package may take time, the central government should have provided interim relief for the flood victims. He wondered why the central government was delaying the relief when it knew it had to provide the same.