Bhubaneswar: The Congress on Monday came down heavily on the Odisha government for the human casualties in the very severe cyclonic storm Titli that ravaged three South Odisha districts of Ganjam, Gajapati and Rayagada.
“The Odisha government was so obsessed with its high-voltage zero casualty propaganda that it failed to foresee the danger ahead and also kept the death toll under wraps for almost four days. The administration was solely responsible for the death of more than 70 innocent people, though it puts the death toll at 61, in the cyclonic storm and the subsequent flash flood,” alleged AICC leader and Odisha-in-charge Jitender Singh during a press briefing at the Congress Bhawan here after his visit to the cyclone-hit districts.
Had the state administration taken the warning of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) seriously and localised the cautionary operation well before the landfall, these lives could have been saved, he said.
“From the beginning, the state government officers and the office of the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) were not serious. The focus of the entire administration was on Ganjam district, the home constituency of the Chief Minister. This is clearly established in the press releases of SRC on the day the cyclonic storm made the landfall,” Singh maintained.
The press release, the day before and the day following the Titli landfall, had detailed description on the number people affected and evacuated, the gram panchayat, village-wise data, number of officers deputed and shifting of the sick and elderly men and women to the hospitals, he said.
“Surprisingly, the report made no mention about the worst-affected Gajapati district. The IMD warning clearly specified that after the landfall near Palasa, the cyclonic storm would most likely re-curve north-eastwards and move across Odisha causing heavy to very heavy rainfall in Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Puri and Kandhamal districts. This clearly belies the justification of the state government that it had not expected heavy rainfall,” the AICC leader pointed out.
He also said that before the landfall, none from district administration had visited the worst-affected Baraghara village in Gajapati district where 18 people died in the landslide.
Had the state government followed the IMD warning and evacuated the people, the lives could have been saved, Singh noted.
“The media reports and the statement of the affected people who managed to survive the onslaught of the cyclonic storm have thoroughly exposed the poor preparedness of the government agencies in immediate handling of relief and reconstruction works,” he added.
Among others, leader of the Opposition Narasingha Mishra and OPCC working president Pradip Majhi were present at the press meet.
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