A flood of ‘apathy' and more (Hindu 10 July 2010)

Providing relief and pumping out water from Haryana areas
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda inspecting the site of the SYL Canal breach on Friday that inundated surrounding villages before the Army restored vehicular traffic by installing a makeshift bridge at Naggal near Ambala on Friday.
AMBALA: Even as the Haryana Government on Friday claimed that rescue and relief operations were under way on a war footing in the flood-affected districts of Ambala, Kaithal and Kurukshetra and the situation was improving, the reality on the ground seemed somewhat different.
A whirlwind tour of the affected areas in Ambala district including Ambala City, Cantonment and the rural belt of Naggal revealed that tracts of land were still inundated with water while the victims complained of “apathy” on the part of the district administration, specially the Ambala Deputy Commissioner, in reaching out relief and even more important pumping out water from the affected localities.
Even though Ambala district authorities claimed that 38 tankers of drinking water had been pressed into service in the affected areas, residents complained that they were without water.
People heaved a sigh of relief that the road and rail traffic, especially linking Ambala with Delhi, was restored on Friday. They also thanked God after power supply was restored in the evening.
Even the Ambala-Hisar highway which was “broken” due to a breach near Naggal was repaired overnight by the Army and made functional for traffic. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda accompanied by PWD Minister Randeep Surjewala and Ambala City MLA Venod Sharma made an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas in the three districts. Talking to the media later he asserted that his regime would take all necessary steps to check floods in future. Responding to complaints of residents of Ratta Khera Kadma in Guhla sub-division of Kaithal about power blackout and non-supply of water for the last few days, he assured them that these problems were being solved and they would get drinking water, fodder for the cattle, food and medical help.
He said he had ordered a special girdawari to assess the loss caused by floods.
Claiming that the flood situation had improved considerably, he said the breach in the Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal near Kurukshetra had been plugged. The water was receding in Kurukshetra, he added. Later, talking to flood victims at Jagdishpura, he said the State had suffered a heavy loss and the real picture would emerge after the survey which would be conducted to assess the damage.
Mr. Hooda said Congress president Sonia Gandhi had telephoned him today and expressed concern over the flood situation. He said the Centre had already assured all help to effectively deal with the situation.
Meanwhile, PWD (Buildings and Roads) Engineer-in-Chief Mahesh Kumar said the flood-hit roads would be repaired within 15 days after the water recedes.
A spokesman of the Kurukshetra administration claimed that in Shahabad the water had been drained out except for a few streets. Meanwhile, Haryana Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Irrigation, S.S. Dhillon said the estimated loss of Rs.650 crore due to floods included damage to crops (Rs.400 crore), damage to network of roads (Rs.205 crore) and network of canals (Rs. 50 crore).