Thiruvananthapuram, February 22 : Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has flayed the CPI(M)-led LDF government over what he termed as its indolent attitude in the face of severe drought situation in the state.
In an article released for publication to the media Wednesday, Chennithala said that the state was facing the most severe drought situation in its entire history and yet the government had done nought to tackle the summer heat beyond holding a few talks.
The government had declared Kerala drought-hit four months ago and had since done nothing about it, he wrote, adding caustically that the government’s responsibility did not end at such a declaration.
Even though the summer is yet to peak, the state has already incurred loss upwards of Rs. 200 crore in the agricultural sector according to unofficial estimates, the article says.
Painting a grim picture of the availability of water in the state, Chennithala states that water reservoirs are going dry and the central groundwater board’s findings suggest that the groundwater level in several parts of the state has shrunk by over four metres.
The article also criticised revenue minister E Chandrasekharan, saying that even though the minister had issued a 26-point list of instructions to district collectors after declaring the state drough-hit, to this day those instructions were couched in secrecy.
Chennithala states that, in his capacity as opposition leader, he had put forth a suggestion to the revenue minister that the district collectors should hold discussions on the list of instructions with the legislators from the respective districts, and the minister had accepted the suggestion.
However, no such discussion was held in any district, Chennithala laments, adding that nor was any action taken based on the instructions.
The government has not even honoured the promise given to the state assembly four months ago that they would write to the centre about the drought situation in the state, the article says.
Meanwhile, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters Wednesday that the government would seek financial assistance from the centre for tiding over the drought situation in the state
The government would install water kiosks in areas suffering from paucity of drinking water, Pinarayi said, adding that water tankers would be pressed into service to transport drinking water to areas reeling under severe drought conditions.
