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| People being ferried to a safe zone at a flooded village in Kendrapara. Telegraph picture |
Bhubaneswar, Sept. 30: The Union minister of state for chemicals and fertilisers, Srikant Jena, has urged the Central Water Commission (CWC) to probe the allegations of mismanagement of Hirakud reservoir on the Mahanadi, which allegedly resulted in severe flood in Orissa.
“I have received a number of complaints on the alleged mismanagement of Hirakud reservoir which led to the floods in the coastal belt. I have asked the CWC to see whether the prescribed rule curve for the maintenance of water level in the Hirakud reservoir was followed or not. If there has been any violation, we will demand stringent punishment for the guilty officials,” said Jena after a meeting with the central team visiting Orissa to assess the damaged caused by the flood.
The Telegraph had carried a detailed report on the alleged mismanagement of the Hirakud reservoir system on September 16.
Jena also suggested that the state government should start dredging major river mouths to avoid recurrence of floods. He admitted that the state had suffered huge losses in the consecutive floods. “Many houses have been damaged. I agree with the state’s concern about the scale of loss. The central team has also said that the loss has been massive,” Jena added.
During his meeting with the central team, chief minister Naveen Patnaik highlighted the damage caused by the floods. The Orissa government has submitted an interim memorandum seeking assistance of Rs 3265.38 crore from New Delhi.
While in the first phase of the floods, the state suffered a loss to the tune of Rs 2,120.92 crore, in the second phase, the loss was amounted to Rs 1,144.46 crore. The chief minister today directed the district collectors to disburse assistance to the flood victims by October 15. In a related development, Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) led by its president Niranjan Patnaik today met the central team and alleged that the first phase flood was caused because of the mismanagement of Hirakud reservoir.
