UP govt not taking proper preparations to tackle floods: BJP

BJP today accused the Uttar Pradesh government of not taking proper preparations to tackle floods, specially in eastern parts of the state before the onset of monsoon.
"Monsoon has reached the state, deadline to complete flood relief works has passed, but the government is still in a review mode," BJP chief spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak told reporters here.
"Irrigation minister Shivpal Singh Yadav has said all preparations are in place. But he himself knows that of the Rs 725 crore allocated for flood safety, irrigation department has failed to spend 95 per cent and warnings are being issued on papers only," he alleged.

So far only Rs 29.35 crore of the allocated budget has been spent, Pathak said adding, "From this it can easily be gauged how much preparation has been made".
The spokesman alleged that there was threat of breach at two dozen embankments including Elgin and Shrinagar which are considered as very sentitive.
"Last year also there was loss of life and property in hundreds of village, but there seems no alertness on the government's part regarding preparations," he alleged.
Instead of making hollow statements, the government should complete safety arrangements on war footing, he added.