Punjab flood ‘Bhagwant made, not Bhagwan made’: Harsimrat Badal

PTI

Chandigarh, July 18

Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Tuesday asked Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to call a special assembly session to discuss the flood situation, saying that the tragedy was “Bhagwant made, not Bhagwan made”.

After visiting flood-affected areas in the Malwa belt, Badal urged the Mansa deputy commissioner to proactively address the problems being faced by the beleaguered people.

She visited villages in the Budhladha and the Sardulgarh constituencies and various wards in Sardulgarh town.

Launching an attack on Mann, the Bathinda MP said, “Hundreds of villages and thousands of acres of land with crops are under water while you are flying in the heavens far away from the beleaguered (people) whose only sin is that they entrusted their destiny in your hands.”

Referring to Mann’s recent visit to the flood-hit areas, she said, “It is time you put a stop to your publicity jamboree and get down to the brass tacks to save the people reeling from the flood fury.”

Demanding a special assembly session to discuss the floods, the Akali leader said the tragedy was “Bhagwant made, not Bhagwan (God) made”.

She also took a dig at the chief minister for his Bengaluru visit for a two-day meeting of opposition parties.

Twenty-six opposition parties on Tuesday formed a coalition—Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) -- to unitedly take on the ruling NDA.

Badal said she is “deeply pained” to see Mann behaving so heartlessly—“criss-crossing the skies to promote (AAP chief Arvind) Kejriwal in Karnataka” when his state is suffering from floods and people are losing their lives.

In a statement issued by the party, she asked Mann to cancel publicity gimmicks, save the state’s funds for the aggrieved people and devote his time to those who voted him to power.

She also expressed regret that Mann made tall claims about the release of compensation even before the ‘girdawari (survey to assess loss)’ but has “not shown his face” since then despite over 35 deaths and the loss of hundreds of cattle.

Punjab recorded three more deaths in the recent spell of heavy downpour that left many districts in the state flooded, taking the toll so far to 38, according to official data released on Tuesday. A total of 26,280 people have been evacuated from the waterlogged areas and taken to safer places.

Badal alleged that no ex-gratia has been announced, adding, “People in villages are losing lives, crops, cattle and property and, in the absence of any help from the government, tension among them is escalating”.

She said villagers are pooling their resources to save their villages from the water gushing in and claimed that the administration is totally absent.

It is extremely unfortunate that despite warnings, the administration did not bother to take effective steps to strengthen the ‘bundhs (embankments)’, the MP said.

“The Chandpura ‘bundh’ breach was the result directly of this insensitivity and neglect, allowing Ghaggar water to flood and ravage vast areas in Budhlada and Sardulgarh of Mansa district. But even in this hour of grave tragedy, the chief minister and his AAP government are busy in photo ops for fake publicity,” she said.

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