Flood relief 8212; Arunachal complains of discrimination

ITANAGAR, OCT 10: The Congress government in Arunachal Pradesh, which completes one year in office tomorrow, has complained that the BJP-l...

ITANAGAR, OCT 10: The Congress government in Arunachal Pradesh, which completes one year in office tomorrow, has complained that the BJP-led Government at the Centre is adopting a step-motherly attitude towards it. The attitude was most in evidence when it came to extending help to the state following the flash floods which hit the eastern part of Arunachal Pradesh in June, Chief Minister Mukut Mithi said today.

8220;The floods caused damage to the tune of Rs 140 crore and while we ahve been pleading with the Centre for assistance, only Rs 13 lakh has been released to us so far,8221; Mithi said. This Rs 13 lakh too has been released only from the Prime Minister8217;s Relief Fund, while several memoranda submitted to the Prime Minister have been gathering dust in Delhi, he added.

Mithi told The Indian Express today that this was 8220;too meagre8221; a sum to help cover the massive damage.

River Siang, the main tribuary of the Brahmaputra which flows in from China in the north of the state, had played havoc with the sate8217;s East Siang district in mid-June. At least 50 people were killed during the flash floods and three stragically important bridges which help the Army reach the Indo-China border had also been washed away. The bridges alone will cost the exchequer around Rs 80 crore.

8220;Even worse is the fact that while Union Minister Nitish Kumar visited the state to assess the damage and forwarded the case to the Prime Minsiter, the Committee of Secretaries to which Vajpayee had refered the matter suggested that funds be rleased from the non-lapsable fund, which is meant for infrastructure development of the region,8221; Mithi complained.

Though Mithi himself carefully refrained from saying that Arunachal Pradesh has been discriminated against because it had a Congress government, state Congress president Dera Natung has openly complained that being a Congresss-ruled state could be the basic reason for the neglect.

8220;It is unfortunate on the part of the Centre to have ignored our repeated requests for funds. If the fact that ours is a Congress-ruled state is the reason for this, the Centre is making a grave mistake,8221; Natung said.

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State Flood Control Minister Hari Notung said: 8220;With these three strategic bridges washed away, it is not just that a major portion of the state has been cut off, but the Army too is suffering. How will they keep contact with the Indo-China border?8221;

Similar sentiments have been aired by former chief minister P.K. Thungon. 8220;It is totally dishearte4ning that the Centre has turned deaf ears to our repeated pleas,8221; he said.

8220;There is no doubt that the Centre has been playing politics with the issue of floods. Look how the entire NDA rushed to states like Gujarat, Himachal or Uttar Pradesh when there were floods. And when this border state is suffering, Delhi is simply silent,8221; lamented Jarbom Gamlin, Lok Sabha member from the state.