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Journalism of Courage
GANDHINAGAR, Sept 30: There was pandemonium during the special debate on the serious scarcity situation in the State Assembly on Thursday when the Congress members walked out in a huff after the ruling BJP stooped to derogatory remarks.
Revenue Minister Vajubhai Vala, during his reply to the long drawn out debate that continued till late evening, sparked off a furore when he stated that the resolution on the debate moved by Congress chief whip Naresh Rawal and member Siddharth Patel had no substance and was like 8220;a dog relieving itself in public.8221;
While staging the walk-out, the Opposition members charged that the ministers had reduced the debate to a farce and were stooping to making obscene remarks instead of coming up with concrete proposals to tackle the water crisis gripping the State.
Rawal said that while Water Supply Minister Narottam Patel was just referring to tenders being issued by the government for various water projects, Vala was not even doing this and making crude remarks.
Replying to the debate, the Water Supply Minister denied the charge of the Opposition that the government was simply watching the parched regions of the State suffer and stated that measures had been launched in earnest nearly two months ago.
He informed the House that his department had not only chalked out a Rs 166-crore master plan to provide water to as many as 5,945 villages and 71 urban centres but also put it under implementation.
He denied the allegation of Leader of Opposition Amarsinh Chaudhary that irregularities were being committed in allocating different water contracts, including the Wankaner-Jasdan-Rajkot pipeline project. He stated that only those contractors who had made annual rate contracts with the government were engaged in the waterworks.
Patel disagreed with the Opposition that the BJP Government had cancelled for political expediency the Saurashtra pipeline project initiated by the previous Congress and RJP Governments to supply water from central and south Gujarat to Saurashtra and Kutch. He said the earlier project was not technically viable and now the present government has evolved an elaborate Rs. 800-crore steel pipeline project to replace the previous one, which is expected to be commissioned by October next year.
However, the Water Supply Minister avoided any reference to the allegation by Amarsinh Chaudhary that 8220;extra-constitutional authority was operating in the corridors of power in Gandhinagar which decided on all contracts without the minister8217;s knowledge.8221; Replying to the debate, Vajubhai Vala said the government had not waited for the monsoon season to get over by mid-October and already initiated relief measures. He assured the House that the government had taken steps to provide fodder to cattle-breeders and prevent migration of maldharis with their animals.
