Oppn asks Rawat not to confine himself to image-building

Opposition BJP today asked newly appointed Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Harish Rawat not to confine himself to an image-building exercise in disaster affected areas but take concrete steps to rebuild lives and rehabilitate affected people.
"Only visiting affected areas is no more than an image-building exercise. People are looking for concrete steps from the government to bail them out of the effects of the crisis that hit them last year," Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Ajay Bhatt said commenting on the CM's ongoing visits to the flood-hit areas of the state.
Citing pitiable condition of villages, the BJP leader said Semi village in Rudraprayag district is sliding, Urgam valley has no connectivity and Darnma valley is totally devastated despite over seven months after the mid-June tragedy.

Asking the Chief Minister to take concrete steps to mitigate the suffering of people in affected areas, he said Rawat should immediately seek from the Centre Rs 8,000 crore promised towards rehabilitation of the people of the state.
"What I want to say is that piecemeal efforts won't do. What is needed is concrete visible work in terms of repair of damaged infrastructure and relocation and rehabilitation of the flood-hit villages," Bhatt said.
However, assuring the chief minister of full cooperation from the opposition in his efforts to provide succour to people, the Leader of Opposition said, "It is his (CM's) honeymoon period. We are not going to subject him to rigorous scrutiny from day one. But the results of his efforts should begin to make themselves visible in a month's time," he said.

After being sworn as the Chief Minister on Saturday last, Rawat has been visiting flashflood-hit areas of Uttarakhand to take stock of the ground realities.
He visited Tharali and Piplkoti areas of one of the worst-hit Chamoli district on Monday and is currently touring the affected areas of Kumon region in Pithoragarh district.