Repeating its demand for a probe into recent floods after the sudden release of waters from the Narmada Dam, Gujarat Congress leaders on Thursday met Governor Acharya Devvrat and demanded a “detailed probe” to fix the responsibility on those who suddenly released the water from the dam.
Calling the flood-like situation in parts of Narmada, Bharuch and Vadodara districts a “man-made calamity”, the opposition party demanded a probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to identify and punish those responsible for it.
A delegation led by State Congress president Shaktisinh Gohil and their legislative party leader in the Assembly, Amit Chavda, on Thursday called on the Governor at the Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar to hand over a memorandum seeking his intervention.
Also Read | Flood in Narmada, Bharuch a man-made calamity, allege Opposition parties in Gujarat
The opposition party demanded that an SIT headed by a sitting or retired High Court judge be formed to investigate this “man-made disaster” and to punish officials who deliberately delayed in releasing water to artificially overflow the dam on September 17 to coincide with the Prime Minister’s birthday.
The floods had caused widespread damage to standing crops and households in villages along the river coast in Narmada, Bharuch and Vadodara districts.
The opposition party has been alleging that excess water from the Sardar Sarovar dam was suddenly released into the Narmada river on September 17 instead of doing it gradually over days to “please Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his birthday.
Despite the rain data of the catchment areas of the Narmada river suggesting that the reservoir would receive a huge amount of water, the dam authorities “deliberately held back the water to ensure that it gets filled up on September 17”, said the Congress in its memorandum.
PM’s birthday
The party further said that the officials at the dam then released a staggering 18 lakh cusecs of water downstream of the river by opening the gates shortly after Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel reached the site on the morning of September 17 to celebrate the occasion of the dam achieving full capacity and wish the Prime Minister on his birthday.
According to the opposition party, the released water caused “enormous” damage to properties of lakhs of people, including shopkeepers, fishermen, local residents and farmers.
The party leaders have also demanded a special compensation package for the flood-affected residents in these districts. Though the BJP Government has already announced a relief package for farmers and residents who incurred losses, the Congress said the compensation offered by the government was very less compared to the losses suffered by flood victims.
Alleging that the rule book was not followed in dam operations, the opposition party demanded that measures suggested by the World Bank, Morse Commission, and researchers of the Vadodara-based MS University be implemented to avoid such a situation in the downstream of the river in future.
The party also demanded that farmers, cattle-rearers, shopkeepers, families and other residents living close to the river bank downstream be declared “project-affected people” of the dam and considered eligible to get benefits like other PAPs.
The ruling BJP has already denied the allegation, claiming that a sudden influx of water into the dam in a span of 36 hours forced the authorities to release 18 lakh cusecs of water downstream.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had also termed the floods “man-made” and held the State BJP Government responsible for the floods not seen in the Narmada river since 1970.
The ruling party has been facing the anger of the local residents of the affected areas where the angry protesters had forced the BJP leaders, including Cabinet Minister Kubersinh Dindor to leave the venues without meeting the victims.
The State Government has announced two different compensation packages for farmers and other victims including small businessmen, daily wagers, fishers and others.
