Jaipur, December 27: Rejecting BJP leader Vasundhara Raje’s allegation that the Rajasthan government had not promptly taken up disaster management after the Kota bridge collapse, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot today termed them as “ridiculous”.
Gehlot said Opposition leader Vasundhara Raje was probably not aware that it was an NHAI project based in Delhi which began in her (Raje) tenure.
“She (Raje) does not know this much, she is the only complainant who made this remark before the press at Kota on her visit, which is ridiculous,” he said.
All districts are capable of taking up any kind of disaster management and there is no dearth of funds during any emergency, he said.
Gehlot said the state government has directed all concerned departments related to construction to ensure that quality standards be maintained at every site and responsibility and accountability of engineers be fixed up to the highest level.
Safety of human lives and sustainability of every ongoing public project should be ensured at all levels of the state machinery, he said.
“Urban Development and Housing Department would also consider this point in its town planning policies wherever applicable to make every work transparent,” Gehlot told reporters here.
On preparations for the upcoming panchayat polls, the chief minister claimed the Congress would return in all panchayati raj bodies as Opposition BJP was not observing its ‘dharm and karam’ (duty and action) for public welfare.
“‘Vipaksh mein to Ghamasan macha hai (Opposition BJP is fighting like a war within itself) … they are not playing their role of opposition and keeping the ruling Congress party on a challenge mode,” he said.
–PTI