IMD issues orange alert

Vijayawada : Vijayawada, which witnessed nature’s fury for the past four days, is slowly limping back to normalcy as water in many parts has started receding. But the administration now has a major task to clear the slush and ensure that there was no spread of diseases and also gear up for possible rains in the next 48 hours due to the formation of a fresh low pressure which could affect Krishna, NTR district, East and West Godavari districts. The IMD has issued an orange alert.

Amidst this scenario, former chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, who visited some affected colonies, alleged the government had failed in disaster management and claimed that YSRCP had shown what effective disaster management was during their regime. He also commented that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was enacting a drama of working from the Collectorate since his house was under submersion and he could not stay there.

This invited sharp criticism from Naidu who said such false and baseless statements smack of a clear conspiracy to destroy Amaravati and display a lack of sympathy or empathy towards the affected people. He said the government would soon reveal the conspiracy and take stern action against such people.

“I am being very blunt. In the last five years, the YSRCP government was perhaps rearing donkeys and that is why they failed to plug the breaches of Budameru. They not only encroached into Budameru lands but also stole sand from Polavaram. The YSRCP will now see what tough action means. It is high time such wrong propaganda was stopped,” said Naidu.

Naidu further said that such leaders and parties should be socially boycotted. On the other hand, TDP leaders urged Naidu to initiate stringent action against the YSRCP leaders and their social media wings for publishing false news.

Speaking to the media, Naidu said that the government was on one hand busy with relief operations and was forced to fight the “YSRCP demons” on the other. He said he had spoken to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and briefed him about the situation and urged him to visit the affected areas.