Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi is scheduled to undertake an aerial survey of several flood-hit northern districts Saturday, amid allegations by Opposition parties that he had been “feasting in Delhi” when the state people are reeling under the deluge.
The recent flood has impacted over 7 lakh people spread across 20 of the state’s 30 districts, leaving at least three people dead. The state remained on high alert as authorities braced for a “medium” flood in the Mahanadi river system across the densely populated coastal belt, officials said. Opposition parties, however, alleged that seven people have died in the deluge.
Accompanied by Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari and Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Rajesh Prabhakar Patil, the CM will make the aerial survey in the flood-affected areas of Jajpur, Bhadrak, Baleshwar and Kendujhar districts that have been affected the most.
The Chief Minister is scheduled to return to Odisha Friday night from the national capital where he had gone on official engagements.
Opposition BJD and Congress criticised him for allegedly throwing a party for BJP MPs in a star hotel in Delhi at a time when lakhs of people were struggling for survival in the midst of flood water in Odisha.
BJD president and Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik Thursday issued a statement targeting CM Majhi and BJP leaders of “feasting in Delhi amid flood horrors in Odisha”.
“Are Odisha’s BJP leaders feasting in Delhi amid the horrors of the floods in the state? While the entire state is reeling from flood conditions due to relentless heavy rain, the CM and BJP’s top leaders and MPs are currently in Delhi,” the previous CM had said in a social media post.
Pujari, however, rebutted Patnaik’s jibe at the BJP, saying the chief minister was discharging “Raj Dharma” by pursuing a resolution to the Mahanadi water dispute with Chhattisgarh in the national capital.
CM Majhi Thursday attended a high-level meeting under the chairmanship of Union Water Resources Minister C R Patil over Mahanadi water distribution and management, which was also attended by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai.
Pujari asked Patnaik to understand the ground situation before criticising the government.
He alleged that the previous BJD government failed to resolve the Mahanadi water dispute issue.
Pujari said, “The people of Odisha had him as the chief minister for nearly 25 years. But where is he now when the state needs leadership?”
At the instruction of Majhi, the disaster management minister had undertaken an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas in north Odisha and held review meetings Thursday.
Pujari said he was in constant touch with MLAs across party lines in the around 20 districts staring at imminent floods.
On Friday, BJD senior vice-president and former minister Debi Prasad Mishra alleged that the CM and senior BJP leaders were busy with a banquet in Delhi while the flood situation in more than 20 districts in the state was grim.
In a press conference, Mishra claimed that during the previous government, there was a strong system in the field of natural disaster management, for which Odisha was praised all over the country and the world.
In the current floods, 1380 domestic animals have lost their lives and thousands of hectares of agricultural land have been submerged, officials said.
“While the situation in the state is not good, the chief minister and the BJP seniors are feasting in New Delhi. The erstwhile CM’s ‘every life is precious’ motto has become useless for the BJP government. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi talks about zero casualty, but it is not working,” Mishra said.
BJD vice-president Atanu S Nayak claimed that the situation is like ‘when Rome was burning, Nero was playing the flute’.
“The flood situation has worsened, and the affected people are waiting for help. Dry food has not reached most of the places,” Nayak said.
In a separate press conference, state Congress president Bhakta Charan Das accused the BJP of running a government of “five-star culture”.
“The ruling BJP leaders who are supposed to monitor every minute in Odisha are having a feast in Delhi… What is our chief minister doing? They are not ashamed; they are not remorseful,” Das said.
Accusing the BJP government of having no idea about flood management, the Congress leader alleged that the recent flood was “man-made” and lacked prior preparation before the onset of monsoon.
PTI
