The State government has failed to protect the lives of the people, who drowned in the floods, by shifting them to safer places, despite being warned by the officials 20 hours in advance of the impending crisis, YSRCP leader and former minister Gudivada Amarnath has alleged.
Addressing a media conference here on Monday, Mr. Amarnath said that it was the responsibility of the government to save the lives of the people during natural calamities. But, the Chandrababu Naidu government was more interested in publicity than in saving the lives of the people. The warning of the Irrigation DE that there was threat of flood from Budameru went unheeded by the government and no alert was issued to the people, which has resulted in the death of 45 persons, he alleged.
He wondered whether the TDP leaders were under the impression that as Mr. Naidu was in Amaravati, there would be no floods. Holding the government responsible for the drowning deaths in Vijayawada due to the Budameru flooding, Mr. Amarnath recalled that the YSRCP government had shifted 18,000 people of 250 Agency villages to 102 rehabilitation centres at Chintoor in ASR district due to flooding following heavy rains, a couple of years ago. There was not even a single death at that time.
Refuting the mudslinging by the TDP government that YSRCP leaders had left the boats, which got stuck at the Prakasam Barrage gates, Mr. Amarnath said that the ruling party should get an inquiry done to who were the culprits. He alleged that Mr. Naidu was going around on an earth mover only for publicity.
He said that crops in Anakapalli were submerged due to rains but no official was to be seen. On the contrary, the YSRCP government had saved the lives of crores of people during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that the ‘door delivery’ vehicles launched by the YSRCP government had come in handy for distribution of relief materials in Vijayawada, and the retaining wall along the Krishna River, constructed by the YSRCP government, had saved several lives. The toll would have been much higher, had the wall not been constructed.
Published - September 09, 2024 03:31 pm IST
