Congress’ Nirmal alleges negligence by govt, admn

Congress Ambala City MLA Nirmal Singh on Monday visited the waterlogged villages of his constituency and said not only natural calamity but the negligence of the government and the administration were also a major reason behind

severe waterlogging.

The Congress MLA, along with district Congress committee (Urban) president Pawan Aggarwal and other Congress workers, visited Jodhpur, Jandheri and Balapur villages of Ambala, and interacted with the affected farmers.

He said hundreds of acres of crops were lying damaged due to waterlogging and damaged embankments. There was mud and sludge in the houses and the farmers were also struggling to protect their cattle.

Nirmal Singh said, “This was not only a natural disaster, but also negligence on part of the government and administration. The ruling party has left these villages at the mercy of God. The administration neither brought relief on time nor did anyone ask about the condition of these families. We appeal to the district administration to immediately set up relief camps, speed up the compensation process and order the repair of broken embankments on a war footing.”

“A similar situation was witnessed in 2023, and even then, the Ambala farmers had suffered heavy losses. People are yet to recover from previous losses and again they are witnessing damage. The overflowing rivers have badly affected normal lives. It is evident that adequate preparations had not been made and no lessons learnt from the previous flooding. The government should rise above the formalities of the portal and the administrative officers themselves should go to every village to assess the damage and provide immediate relief,” he added.

Congress district president Pawan Aggarwal said the Congress party was standing with the people who had suffered heavy losses due to waterlogging. The Congress workers were also engaged in providing relief work by going from village to village. The Haryana government should provide compensation of at least 50,000 per acre for the losses and a special package for the repairs of damaged houses. The party demands that the government should find a permanent solution, construct drains and embankments to protect the farmers and start the work immediately so that the arrangements are in place before the next rainy season.”