Kurnool, October 12: The fury of the flood-hit, disgusted at virtually no help reaching them even after a week, found expression in stones raining down on Chief Minister K Rosaiah’s motorcade as it wound its way through Kurnool district this evening.
The Chief Minister was also confronted with verbal manifestations of displeasure by way of jeers and slogans.
On arriving in Kurnool by helicopter after visiting Alampur, the chief minister moved into a bus. When he reached Kalluru village the people, who had gathered in good numbers, asked him to alight but Rosaiah stayed put. This elicited a volley of slogans and complaints.
The Chief Minister kept speaking in spite of interruptions and later proceeded to Panchalingala village after crossing the Tungabhadra.
However, on the advice of the officials, he did not stop in the village as scheduled but drove on and halted at a site further away and commiserated with the people who managed to turn up there.
Later, while he was passing Panchalingala on his way back to Kurnool, the restive crowd threw stones at the convoy, one of which hit a news photographer who, along with other presspersons, was following the chief minister’s convoy in an open jeep.
Earlier in the day, when the Chief Minister, along with Union Minister K Jaipal Reddy and officials, set out to visit parts of the temple town of Alampur the flood victims stopped the convoy and demanded that he visit their homes and see for himself how they were suffering since the water was yet to recede in some parts. The police had a tough time holding back irate, slogan-shouting youths, and finally had to use mild force to disperse them.
Later, the Chief Minister reviewed the situation with officials.
Speaking to mediapersons, he said that for the first time in the country, the State Government had decided to sanction up to Rs 68,200 for construction of houses for the flood-victims under the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY). The offer was restricted only to those willing to relocate themselves to higher ground.
“For some reason, the town developed in an area which resembles a bowl. Once water enters it, there is no way it can be drained out,” he said.
-Agencies