Chamba
In a press conference held in Chamba, Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur, who met the disaster-affected people, said that this government is neither serious about disaster prevention nor about implementing relief work effectively. There has always been a trend in the state that whenever the monsoon and winter season arrive, the government reviews the preparations by holding a high-level meeting. The data released by the Meteorological Department and its preparations are evaluated. Provision is made for machinery and budget to minimize the risk of disaster, to make a complete plan in advance to deal with the emergency, and to deal with the emergency. So that in case of any untoward incident, relief and rescue work can be started immediately.
But in the government that changed the system, there was no information about any high-level meeting to review the preparations before the monsoon this time. This shows the sensitivity of the government. After this, when the disaster caused huge losses, even then, instead of speeding up the relief and rescue work at war level, the government made verbal attacks. The previous government was blamed for the disaster. A government cannot have a more unfortunate attitude than this. Now that the entire state is in the grip of disaster, the people of the government will blame someone. The Chief Minister is requested to ensure that the money given by the Centre reaches the disaster-affected people as quickly and effectively as possible so that they can get relief.
Jairam Thakur said that the lies and insensitivity of the government never end. During the assembly session, the opposition demanded a discussion on the disaster, and the government accepted it after much reluctance. The discussion took place for four days, but the sad thing is that during that time the Chief Minister was absent from the House most of the time. He was taking out election tours in Bihar without any elections. Similarly, when the disaster struck in Chamba, we informed the House about the Mani Mahesh pilgrims being stranded and demanded a discussion. We told the government through the House that at least more than 10,000 people are stranded in Chamba. The Deputy Chief Minister stood up in the House and refuted our statement and said that only less than 3300 people are stranded there. Till 2 days later, the government did not even know how many people were stranded there. This is the kind of management the present government has for the pilgrims. Even more surprising is that the same leaders stand before the House and the media three days later and say that we have evacuated more than 10,000 devotees; more than 15,000 devotees were stranded in Mani Mahesh. Those who came out from there said that they had walked 50–50 kilometers.
Similarly, the government said in the House that four helicopters were rescuing pilgrims from Mani Mahesh. When we found out the truth, we found out that the four helicopters were being operated by private companies, which were already ferrying pilgrims there at the expense of the pilgrims. During the disaster, the government did not have control over those companies either. The companies charged up to Rs 70,000 to evacuate four people from Mani Mahesh. The government had left the people stranded in the Mani Mahesh Yatra and the Chamba disaster to fend for themselves. The surprising thing is that the government did not even know how many people were stranded where and in what condition. The government only collected money from the pilgrims on different pretexts. This government did not spare even those people who provided food to the pilgrims by running langar.
BJP is a party which is always ready for social service
Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur said that the Bharatiya Janata Party, being a political party, does not only do political activities. Fighting elections, getting others to contest elections, winning elections and forming a government, running a government is not limited to this. When the society feels a crisis, the party always stands at the forefront to help the society at that time. It helps people with body, mind and money. Today, disaster has struck many areas of the country including Himachal Pradesh, so the Bharatiya Janata Party is making arrangements for help for the disaster-affected people from every corner of the country. A convoy of trucks loaded with relief material has reached Himachal Pradesh from Tripura. The workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party will carry it on their backs and walk several kilometers to take it to the homes of the affected people. BJP-ruled people from across the country are also providing financial assistance to Himachal Pradesh. He also expressed gratitude to the governments of other states that helped Himachal.
Those who say they did not get anything should tell how much they used to get earlier
While answering the questions of the journalists, Jairam Thakur strongly attacked the government. He said that this is the first time in the history of Himachal that the Prime Minister has visited the disaster affected areas and before reaching Delhi, the Center has given financial assistance of Rs 1500 crore. Apart from this, the Center keeps providing continuous assistance to deal with the disaster under NDRF, SDRF, NDMF, SDMF. Even during the disaster, everyone from NDRF to Army, ITBP, Air Force were engaged in relief and rescue work. Even after this, the government did not utter even a single word of gratitude towards the Prime Minister and is accusing him of not helping on one pretext or the other, which is shameful. Along with him in the express conference, BJP state president Dr. Rajiv Bindal, Rajya Sabha MP Harsh Mahajan, Sulh MLA Vipin Parmar, Churah MLA Hansraj, Dalhousie MLA DS Thakur, former Chamba MLA Pawan Nayyar etc. were present.
