Bhopal: A day after senior BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan accused the Kamal Nath-led Congress government of not doing enough for flood victims in Madhya Pradesh, Public Relations Minister PC Sharma blamed the former chief minister for blocking central funds from reaching the state.
As the twin towns of Mandsaur and Neemuch were hit by worst-ever floods, Chouhan reached Malhargarh town in Mandsaur on Monday and met affected villagers. The state government has asked Water Resources Minister Hukum Singh Karada to take stock of the situation in Neemuch and submit a report.
On Sunday, Chouhan slammed the government for ignoring deluge-hit villagers and threatened to launch an agitation from September 22 over this, while adding that he had already donated a month’s salary for flood relief. Sharma said Chouhan was only doing drama and he was responsible for stopping central funds reach MP. “The BJP-led central government has reduced funds allocation by Rs 310 crore for last year and this year by altering the Centre-state share of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) from 90:10 to 75:25. This was the fund we badly needed at this hour of crisis,” Sharma told reporters in Bhopal on Monday.
When asked about Sharma’s allegations, Chouhan urged the chief minister and his colleagues to focus of flood relief and not waste time abusing him. “We should stop abusing each other and concentrate on offering succour to public,” he added. Asked what the Centre was doing to deal with the crisis, Chouhan said an amount of Rs 850 crore lying unused in the SDRF was given by the Centre and should be utilised for immediate relief work.
BJP MLA and former minister Narottam Mishra said the Centre was always ready to offer support on the basis of survey reports from the state and till date, MP hasn’t sent any such report as it hasn’t been prepared. He called the situation a man-made one as dam gates weren’t opened on time. The former minister said the water level at the Gandhi Sagar Dam has reached 1,322 feet and farmers have lost everything in the floods, but no minister had visited the affected areas yet. Earlier in the day, Chief Secretary SR Mohanty said water level has reached 1318 feet.
“Till date not a single penny of relief has been doled out and not a single minister has reached any affected farmland,” said Mishra, adding Congress ministers were only busy talking from the state capital.
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