Leader of Opposition in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir held Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao responsible for tardy relief works in rain affected areas of Greater Hyderabad.
Addressing a press conference along with Deputy CLP leader Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy at Congress Legislature Party office on Friday, Shabbir Ali said that the State Government has failed to take preventive measures to minimise damages despite forecast of heavy rains during the last one week. “State Government did not take measures to prevent breach of small tanks, stagnation of rain water, evacuation of people from low lying areas and setting up of relief camps despite having a clear forecast of heavy rains by the Indian Meteorological Department. It also failed to provide food, drinking water and other necessities to the people who are trapped in their houses in areas which got inundated due to heavy rains,” he said.
Shabbir Ali strongly condemned KCR for his absence in the State capital during crisis. “KCR, along with Chief Secretary Dr. Rajiv Sharma is conveniently sitting in New Delhi to make representations with the Centre for increase in Assembly seats. While the entire Hyderabad is in chaos due to rain fury, KCR is still thinking only about politics. He wants the MLA seats to be increased to accommodate leaders whom he lured from different parties into TRS offering posts. He should be ashamed of himself for this kind of insensitive approach towards tragedies,” he said.
The Congress leader said that the Chief Minister should have returned to Hyderabad immediately after learning about huge damages caused due to heavy rains. It takes just two hours to return from Delhi to Hyderabad and more than 20 flights operate daily on this route. If required, he should have hired a chartered flight. It is ridiculous to say that the Chief Minister was monitoring the situation from New Delhi, he said.
Shabbir Ali said the Chief Minister heads the Telangana Disaster Management Authority and his absence in the hour of crisis was highly condemnable. Demanding that KCR should immediately return to Hyderabad, he said that many affected areas need immediate help. He said since the power supply in areas which got inundated has been snapped, they need emergency lights, candles or lanterns. Food and safe drinking water also needs to be supplied to them. The decisions to call Army, RAF and para-military forces for relief measures also needs to be taken and ensuring coordination between various departments could be done only in the presence of Chief Minister.
The Congress leader said that he spoke to the Chief Secretary over phone asking him to intensify relief operations. CLP leader K. Jana Reddy also spoke to Dr. Rajiv Sharma regarding relief measures. Further, he said measures need to be taken on war-footing basis to restore normalcy in the city. Almost all roads in the city have become extinct and they got replaced with potholes. He said there was no coordination among various departments and senior officials have entered into blame game to avoid taking responsibility for the present disaster.
When asked for reaction on Municipal Administration & Urban Development Minister K. Tarakarama Rao’s accusation that previous Congress regime was responsible for present conditions in the city, Shabbir Ali said that the minister should speak responsibly. “You are in power for the last two-and-a-half year. If there were encroachments on lakes, what prevented you from taking action against the same. Where is your Monsoon Action Plan? What happened to your 100 Days Action Plan for GHMC? Instead of apologising to the people for your failures, you are shamelessly trying to shift blame on us. In that case, you resign from your post and let us handle the situation,” he said.
Shabbir Ali asked as to why TRS Government did not take action against illegal structures in the city. He said people of Seemandhra were terrorised after demolishing a few structures in Ayyappa Society. He said KTR made tall claims of turning Hyderabad into a global city within 100 days after GHMC elections. More than 200 days have passed and the conditions have turned from bad to worse, he said.
“Recent heavy rains have exposed that the TRS Government’s claims of turning new city into Dallas and Old City into Istanbul were completely hollow and fake,” he said.
Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy also accused the State Government of mishandling the rain situation. He said after facing the rain fury, citizens of Hyderabad now fear the outbreak of epidemics. He said several cases of Dengue, Diarrhea and other water borne diseases are being reported in city hospitals. He demanded that the State Government immediately release funds to restore normalcy in the city.
Earlier, Shabbir Ali, along with Sudhakar Reddy, visited Nizampet and other affected areas. They interacted with the locals and enquired about their problems. Shabbir Ali appealed to the Congress cadre and NGOs to extend all possible help to the affected people. (NSS)