Gujarat Congress questions Patel on Surat floods

Though short of saying in so many words, Patel has laid the blame on the inefficiency of the district collectorate for ignoring early warnings received from the flood control room. Patel has pointed out that the collector should have immediately swung into action on receiving the data regarding water level in the dam and the flood reports from neighbouring MadhyaPradesh.

In his letter, Patel has insisted that the Surat tragedy was man-made and it was caused by callousness of the administration and therefore, the government must order an inquiry. Patel has sought to know the ideal situations for release of large quantities of dam waters and the factors affecting the decision to release the same. According to him, had the water been released in a phased manner, the mishap could have been averted.

Blaming it on lack of co-ordination between various departments and the collectorate, Patel sought to know whether the necessary flood control drill was carried out following receipt of flood warnings in advance from the department concerned.

Patel has put 15 questions to the Chief Minister in connection with the Surat floods. Some of the questions put to Patel are:

Did local authorities (ie Collector) hold meetings and worked out possible action plan in accordance with Flood Memorandum? Did the collector hold emergency co-ordination meetings, delegate powers tosubordinates and monitor the implementation? Were the gates of the Dam opened before the water level rose and whether they were opened suddenly or gradually?

Were the rules regarding water level and its flow followed month-wise, if not, why was focal officer not alerted?

Did the collector alert the people living in low lying areas when it became necessary to release more than 3.66 lakh cusecs at one go? What could be the reason for sudden increase of water to eight lakh cusecs in the river Tapti on September 16 when it was just 2.50 lakh cusecs a day ago? Has the Government been told about the Sangh Parivar activists terrorising officials on duty at Ukai dam and creating obstruction to disrupt their operations?