Punjab: Jakhar blames AAP govt for floods, seeks probe by retd judge
Addressing a press conference, Jakhar demanded that an inquiry into the floods be conducted under the supervision of a retired judge.
BJP state president Sunil Jakhar on Sunday blamed the recent floods in Punjab on the “inexperienced” Aam Aadmi Party government and a company that was awarded the contract for safety inspections of the headworks.
Addressing a press conference, Jakhar demanded that an inquiry into the floods be conducted under the supervision of a retired judge. He also stated that a complaint had been lodged with the Chandigarh Police to expose those who were allegedly trying to defame the BJP and the central government online over the disaster.
The BJP leader said the AAP government had convened the assembly session merely as an attempt to divert attention from the real issue. “The real investigation should focus on the quantity of water released from each dam during that period, when repairs of the dams and headworks were carried out and which company was given the contract for headworks safety inspections,” he said.
Jakhar said the maximum destruction was caused by Ravi river, into which water flows from the Ranjit Sagar dam. He said the Ranjit Sagar dam was entirely under the control of the state government and had no connection whatsoever with the Bhakra Beas Management Board or the central government. “Despite heavy rainfall warnings in the Ravi catchment area between August 20 and 26, very little water was released from the dam, and according to the government’s own claims, 2.75 lakh cusecs of water were released on August 27,” he added.
He also showed a video of a chief engineer’s statement to the media, in which the latter claimed that 4.70 lakh cusecs of water entered through small rivulets downstream of Shahpur Kandi. Jakhar, however, said that between Ranjit Sagar dam and Madhopur headworks, there was no other river or rivulet that could bring such a huge volume of water.
“All of this water was, in fact, released from the Ranjit Sagar dam, which is under the control of the Punjab government.” He also questioned why the gates at Madhopur headworks were not opened in advance after issuing warnings before the water arrived. During the floods, 45 embankments were breached, out of which 42 were along the Ravi river, and the dam on this river was fully under the jurisdiction of the state government, he said.
He said it would be better if this entire matter was investigated impartially to identify the real causes and avoid a repeat.
