Agartala Aug 24: In the wake of devastating floods that have claimed several lives in Tripura, the Opposition Congress party has levelled serious allegations against the state government for ‘failing’ to alert the people earlier.
Reacting to the crisis, Congress MLA Sudip Barman accused the government of a total failure in flood preparedness.
Addressing a press conference from the state Congress headquarters, MLA Sudip Roy Barman alleged that the state administration has miserably failed to generate timely alerts before the flood, leaving vulnerable communities unprepared.
“Having attended the all-party meeting chaired by the chief minister Dr Manik Saha on Saturday, my question to him was, ‘If the state government or the concerned administration receive any sort of alert from the IMD regarding the incessant showers that led to the unprecedented flood situation in Tripura’? If yes, then the government must have made necessary pre-arrangements, primarily announcing the same to alert the people through advertisements, social media platforms and others. If the government had done so…the amount of destruction could be lessened to some extent”, said Barman.
Talking about the proposals given to the state government at the all-party meeting on behalf of the Congress party, the MLA said, “We emphasized the need for better coordination during emergencies, particularly when clashes arise over political and NGO identities”.
Barman expressed his disappointment at instances where opposition parties struggled to distribute food, and NGOs faced challenges in providing relief to affected people in camps. He called such incidents “shameful” and urged that they not be repeated.
Mentioning approximate Rs 15 thousand crores loss, stated by the chief minister, Barman said, “In this present situation, we urged the government to form all party committees at all the levels starting from Blocks to Districts to help the victims. A primary assessment of destruction must be done by proper survey at the preliminary stage to access the department wise loss. House- to- house verification must be done further before proper disbursement of compensation”.
He also questioned whether the government had conducted a department-wise survey of losses, as Minister Ratan Lal Nath had mentioned over Rs. 600 crores in damages to the Agriculture and Power Departments.
Barman raised doubts about whether the proposed compensation for approximately Rs. 15,000 crores would adequately address the losses suffered by the people.
Furthermore, he criticized the silence of two BJP MPs who were reportedly absent from the state during the flood crisis.
“It is disheartening that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Maan Ki Baat did not mention a single line about the Tripura floods. Neither the two MPs were seen anywhere”, he said.
“We urge the central leadership of the ruling party to release a special package for Tripura that would help the victims”, he added.
The Congress MLA demanded a comprehensive survey to assess all aspects of the disaster, including damage to homes, property and agriculture.
TPCC president Asish Kumar Saha also remained present at the press conference.