Hooda visits flood-affected areas in Haryana

Kurukshetra (Haryana): Riding on a tractor and on foot, senior Congress leader and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda on Wednesday visited flood-affected areas in the state and asked the government to work on a war footing to get the situation under control.

After talking to locals about problems faced by them, he looked at the condition of the fields and residential areas in Kurukshetra, Shahabad, and Ambala towns.

Hooda said water logging has become a massive problem and the government will have to work on a war footing to get the situation under control. He said the government should take forward the relief work with the help of the Centre, the NDRF, and the Army to protect the life and property of people.

The Leader of Opposition said if the government had taken precautionary measures in time, the people could have been saved from this calamity.

“The government has neither called a meeting of the flood control board, nor got storm water outlets, sewerage, and drains cleaned before the rainy season. If the government had fulfilled its responsibility in time, crops, shops and houses could have been saved from submerging to a large extent.

“The government shouldn’t show any negligence or laxity. They should mobilise and deploy whatever resources they have for draining out the rainwater. Along with this, compensation should be announced for the people after assessing the damage caused by the flood,” he said.

Hooda reminded that earlier in 1995-96, the state had to face floods. “Even at that time, compensation was given by the government to help people recover from the loss caused due to the floods. This time too thousands of acres of farmers' crops have been destroyed due to floods, houses of many people have collapsed or cracks have appeared in them and shops have also been submerged. All these sections should be given proper compensation,” he added.

The two-time Chief Minister called upon the Congress workers to reach the flood-affected areas and help people in this hour of crisis. “In this time of disaster, every capable person should work proactively in relief and rescue work,” he said and appealed to the public to help each other.