Assurances but no implementation
Come natural calamity, one sees ministers and MLAs visiting various localities with officials in tow.
The deluge that hit the State capital and other areas proved yet another occasion for ministers and higher officials to visit various areas and console people. They no doubt announced the government’s commitment to resolve their problems during interaction with the affected residents.
But how far are these assurances materialising remains the moot question. This could be seen from the plight of people who are confronted with a second spell of heavy rain, days after the city witnessed it’s second highest rainfall on a single day in a century.
The bad roads remained the same and water-logging continued while several areas witnessed inundation causing huge loss to residents.
It is time the powers that be wake up to the reality and initiate concrete measures to avoid recurrence of such developments.
CP plunges into action
Cyberabad Commissioner of Police Vishwanath Channappa Sajjanar has walked the talk and plunged into action when Hyderabad was battered by unprecedented rains.
The tough training he got at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy has come in handy once again for this 1996 batch IPS officer.
His readiness to jump into action has been proved time and again while the society is getting better and better. The recent rains showed the sharpness of the officer rescuing marooned citizens reaching them to safety.
An action photograph of Mr. Sajjanar helping the needy caught in swirling waters went viral on social media and it became the talk of the town.
Pouring out
People poured out their woes as politicians neglected their misery. Residents of Uppal constituency lashed out at their MLA Bethi Subhas Reddy for not providing them any relief when he ‘toured’ the inundated areas in a boat.
In a video, which went viral on social media, a woman was seen talking to him from her balcony. She asked Mr. Reddy if they should stay alive or die. “If you don’t do justice, we will write your name and die.” she threatened. The MLA tried to convince the woman and later picked up an argument with her.
Between the devil and deep sea!
TRS politicians, including GHMC corporators and MLAs of constituencies in Hyderabad and its surrounding areas, and ministers are facing a test of their political nerve as people are staring at the worst-ever problem of flooding for decades. Devastated by the unprecedented impact of flooding on their lives, residents of affected localities are venting their emotions (anger) on these elected representatives, particularly those of the ruling party, who are visiting the areas to examine the damage, oversee relief work and console them.
“Forced to a corner by nature’s ire and man-made conditions, the affected people are left with nothing literally and have no option but to question the rulers. On their part, the politicians too have no option but to visit the affected people, although the situation very much resembles like getting caught between the devil and deep sea, ahead of GHMC elections,” a retired bureaucrat lamented.
(M. Rajeev, Abhinay Deshpande and B. Chandrashekhar)
