LSP also requested the state government that Rs 1 lakh compensation be provided for urban middle class
Chennai Corparation one of the heritage buildings that will be decked with lights ahead of the Global Investors Meet (Photo: DC)
Chennai: In a veiled attack that referred to both the Dravidian parties and the Chennai Corporation, Lok Satta Party (LSP) alleged that state governments for the last few years have not utilized the Rs 5,000 crore to implement the storm water drain projects at different points in the city, even though the Mayor claims that 93 percent of the funds have been allocated.
LSP also requested the state government that Rs 1 lakh compensation be provided for urban middle class and Rs 20,000 to be given to the urban poor on an immediate basis. “After inspecting the condition of the houses that have been affected in areas like Velachery, Tambaram and parts of North Chennai and interacting with the officials and the public, it is evident that in most of the places the storm-water drains were not connected to the water reservoirs,” said D. Jagadeeswaran, national spokesperson, LSP at a press meet held at the Chennai Press Club. “The storm water drain project implementation in areas like Velachery, Madipakkam, Tambaram and most of northern Chennai is incomplete and in dire straits,” he said.
Incessant rains that led to the floods were neither unusual nor a natural calamity as it was already forecasted by the Meteorological Department in advance. Chennai had experienced a similar disaster in 2005, the LSP members said at the press release. They also alleged that there is zero transparency in contracts awarded for storm water drain projects for Cooum and Adayar river.
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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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