Former Chief Minister and YCP chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy reiterated that the Vijayawada floods were a man-made disaster caused by government negligence. He alleged that Chandrababu Naidu’s government has miserably failed in coming to rescue of the flood victims and also blamed the government for not taking any concrete measures to assist flood victims,
During his visit to the flood-affected areas of old Rajarajeswari Peta in Vijayawada, he expressed his frustration with the negligent attitude of Chandrababu’s government. He said that if a proper plan had been in place, the situation would not have escalated to this level.
Blaming the coalition government for indifferent attitude in rescue operations, he said that there are no camps anywhere, and it’s clear that Chandrababu has no concern for the people. No matter which colony you visit in Vijayawada, the situation is the same, he added.
Jaganmohan Reddy asked who lifted the Budameru regulator gates? Why were they lifted? If the gates were not lifted, he alleged that Chandrababu’s house would have been submerged. If lifted, he said, it would affect only Vijayawada.
Referring to Chandrababu having been monitoring relief operations by residing at Collectorate, Jagan rediculted it stating that as his house was submerged in the floods, so he chose to stay at the Collectorate Office, putting up a front. .
He alleged that besides advance information about the rains and floods, yet no effective measures were taken. “If proper reviews were conducted and responsibilities were assigned to relevant officials, and if things were handled systematically, we wouldn’t have seen this situation”, he added.
He deplored that Chandrababu is trying to escape by making the officials the scapegoats for his mistakes and blaming officials after replacing all officials during the last four months.
The former Chief Minister asserted that if the volunteer system were in place, such a situation wouldn’t have arisen. Without retaining walls, areas like Krishnalanka would have been submerged, he added.
He asserted that such dire situations never occurred during his government. When floods hit the Godavari in our time, he recalled that they had relocated 30,000 out of 40,000 people to relief camps.
“We set up relief camps in advance, and volunteers were always on alert. Volunteers, along with secretariat staff, would work together to evacuate people. After the flood impact subsided, we provided immediate financial aid and sent them back, never empty-handed”, he added.
