HC notice to Surat big wigs for flood debacle

But, the Surat flood was caused by criminal negligence on part of the authorities, the petitioner says, adding all senior officers in charge of the dam were on leave simultaneously. Despite receiving warnings well in advance that therewould be more inflow of water following heavy rains in the catchment areas at Burhanpur, care was not taken to release the water gradually and it was discharged at one go, the petition states.

Petitioner’s Advocates Jitubhai Nanavati and Vikram Trivedi allege the District Collector, instead of alerting people in his interview to a local cable network, had told the people that there was no need to be afraid as the water level would not cross that of 1994.

The disaster cost the city crores of rupees, claimed many a life and made thousands homeless and jobless, and there was no co-ordination among various agencies in providing relief to the affected, the petition says.

According to it, Union Textile Minister Kashiram Rana was seen distributing food packets from a helicopter which was meant to to be used for providing relief to the affected. The helicopters did not distribute food packets and other reliefs, but were used in giving politicians joyrides and glimpses of a swollen Tapi, while boats were used bycorporators for moving around.

Moreover, the petition says, the master plan chalked out after the 1994 flood was not even dusted off by the Surat Municipal Corporation. Sluice gates and valves were not fixed on the river-end of storm water drains or sewerage lines. Also, drainage water emptied by the civic body into the river was improper, the petition observes.

It says the corporation was forced to dump garbage into the river when people prevented civic vehicles from unloading garbage in their areas, which SMC calls its disposal sites. Despite siltation, dredging has never been done in the river, resulting in flood even when the discharge is considerably low. The embankment scheme was never completed. At several places, the embankment has been damaged but the departments concerned are passing the buck on one other, the petition claims.

Though the Chief Minister was nice enough to stay back and supervise the relief operation, he was misled by bureaucrats, the petition says, praying for a directive tothe state government to take action against Ukai dam authorities or the Surat Collector or whoever was responsible for the flood, under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code and other sections and initiate criminal proceedings against them.

The petition also prays for immediate taking up of the incomplete embankment scheme; dredging of the river on a war-footing; construction of sluice gates and installation of valves at storm water drains; constitution of a disaster management plan to enable civic and government authorities to reach prompt relief to the affected; finalisation of a garbage disposal site away from the city; better communication network and immediate cash relief to the affected besides their rehabilitation.