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Journalism of Courage
Irked at being ‘left out’ by the Gujarat government in terms of relief distribution, the residents of flood-affected areas in Vadodara City on Thursday protested during a government event.
Nearly three weeks ago, rain-triggered floods had ravaged Gujarat, with Vadodara city among the hardest hit areas. On Thursday, the Seva Setu programme was organised at the Vadodara Municipal Corporation’s Urban Primary Health Centre in the city’s Kishanwadi area.
Several BJP leaders gave a miss to the event with the residents questioning the elected representatives about the ‘delay and neglect’ in the area.
The Seva Setu event that was meant for nine administrative wards residents of the East and North Zones of the city, witnessed attendance of only Ward 5 corporator Naitik Shah and Ward 4 corporator Ajit Dadich.
“We are not protesting but drawing attention to the fact that we have been left out. Our homes were flooded up to three feet and not a single BJP leader or corporator came to the area,” said resident Kamlesh Chandana.
“We sent (flood-related) complaints and photos on Whatsapp but no one answered. We did not even receive any compensation and there has been no survey to assess the damage in our area. When we heard that the corporators are arriving in the area for the Seva Setu programme, we decided to arrive here to stop them from occupying chairs on the dais since they have done no work,” Chandana added.
Vadodara City Assembly constituency BJP MLA Manisha Vakil, who along with Shah, visited the residence of the protesting residents told The Indian Express, “The residents made a representation about some civic issues in the area. Their complaint was that the survey teams had not visited their area.”
“I called the Prant Officers and we learnt that the teams are already surveying but since it is a vast area that has been flood-affected, the completion of the survey will take time…” he added.
“The residents also said that the existing storm water drain in the area needed upgrade as the new buildings in the surrounding areas have come up on a higher ground and therefore these particular areas saw waterlogging of up to 3 feet…” said Vakil while assuring to take action accordingly.
“The residents also complained that the local corporators have not responded to their complaints but the corporators have been going wherever they can reach. I have told them that I am available whenever they need to reach out,” he added.
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