Dehradun: Uttarakhand’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) faced stinging attacks from the Opposition that blamed the Pushkar Singh Dhami government for not taking enough steps to minimise the loss of lives after the weather department’s forecast of heavy rainfall.
At least 50 people, most of them in Nainital district, have died after heavy rain on October 18 and 19 triggered a flash flood and landslides, resulting in dozens of deaths.
“The government should have taken the warning more seriously and made more efforts to save the lives of people. But they did little,” Uttarakhand Congress president Ganesh Godiyal said on Wednesday.
On Sunday, India Meteorological Department (IMD) Dehradun centre put out an alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall from October 17 to 19. On October 18, it issued a red alert that forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall in Nainital, Pithoragarh, Bageshwar, Champawat and some other districts. Following the warning, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had directed the authorities concerned to remain on alert mode and appealed to people not to take Char Dham yatra.
Also Read: ‘My friends died in their sleep’: Uttarakhand rain fury leaves trail of despair
{{/usCountry}}Also Read: ‘My friends died in their sleep’: Uttarakhand rain fury leaves trail of despair
{{/usCountry}}A cloud burst in Ramgarh block on Monday morning, October 18, followed by incessant rain through the day led to heavy damage in Ramgarh as well as Okhladanda blocks in Nainital district, where the popular lake town was also inundated.
“Now after people have died, the chief minister is conducting aerial surveys and visiting affected areas. Had the government’s response been more prompt, so many people wouldn’t have lost their lives in the rain-related indents in the state,’ Godiyal alleged.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) spokesperson Sanjay Bhatt asked why such a large number of people lost their lives since the IMD did warn about the heavy rainfall. “We want to ask the government that when they knew about the situation in advance, why so many people lost their lives? Who is responsible for the deaths of so many people? The state government seems to have learnt no lessons from the 2013 Kedarnath tragedy”, he said.
The BJP hit back, accusing the opposition of trying to politicise the response to the rainfall.
This is not the time for politics, said Uttarakhand BJP president Madan Kaushik.
“Both these parties should in fact come forward and cooperate with the government in helping people in the affected areas. It is sad that they are indulging in politics over this at this juncture. People of the state will not forget this,” Kaushik said.
Kaushik said chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is making all possible efforts to help people and save precious lives.
“He is visiting all affected areas and taking stock of the situation. He has already announced compensation to the kin of those who died in the rain-related incidents. Under his leadership, all rescue agencies and police are conducting rescue and relief operations in the affected areas. Nearly 1500 people have been rescued and provided help in the affected areas because of the prompt action of all concerned”, he said.