Congress demands relief for affected, SIT probe in matter

He said the package should also cover shopkeepers and farmers who incurred huge losses due to flood waters.

“We also demand that a Special Investigating Team headed by a sitting judge of the Gujarat High Court should probe as to why a huge quantum of water was released at one go from the Narmada dam on September 17 and if the Madhya Pradesh government had intimated their counterparts in Gujarat about the water inflow into the dam,” Parmar told mediapersons.

The Congress had already termed the floods “man-made” claiming the state government “waited” for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday to release the water from the dam.

Parmar also claimed that the state government has not distributed “cash-doles” to families in the affected areas.

“In the villages we visited, people told us that the administration used to inform them in advance, if water was to be released in the Narmada dam. This time, no such intimation was given and due to this, 20 feet of water inundated several areas in these districts,” he added. Congress Working President Himmatsinh Patel, who was one of the party members who toured the districts since September 19, said, “You saw how the minister from the state government had to face the anger of local residents and flee from the affected area.”

Patel was referring to the visit of Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Kunvarji Halpati, who faced public ire Wednesday after residents in Bharuch questioned the government’s action in flood management and expressed anguish about the loss of property and prevailing unhygienic conditions following the floods. The government had earlier this week refuted claims by the Congress over the issue of release of  water from the Narmada river.