Polls, probes kept officials busy, flooding may be the price to pay

Chandigarh : Punjab may have to pay a price in terms of flooding in many areas as a consequence of the unearthing of alleged scams in the government, which diverted the attention of the Irrigation Ministry, and the Assembly elections earlier this year.
The distractions pushed to the backburner certain crucial yearly measures required to prevent floods. A meeting of the Flood Control Committee, which is supposed to be held in January, took place only in April because of the Assembly elections, which delayed the steps required for preparedness. The department issued maintenance tenders as late as June 2 for the amount that was sanctioned on May 25. Another indication of the matter having been ignored is that only 140 of the 850 drains in the state have been cleaned, and merely 36 of the 296 vulnerable spots identified along rivers have received approval for strengthening works. Most such spots have been left out as the government sanctioned only Rs 40 crore to the Irrigation Department for flood management.  The comprehensive Flood Preparedness Memorandum-2017 had sought at least Rs 350 crore. Last year, the SAD-BJP government had released Rs 132 crore. Adding to the worries is 5,000 employees of the Irrigation Department who are in mood for agitation over the Vigilance Bureau making inquiries in multiple cases against engineers and officials. Chief Engineer (Irrigation) AK Bansal said, “Our department has spent approximately Rs 30 crore of the sanctioned amount and the ‘danger areas’ have been adequately strengthened. The remaining Rs 10 crore has been kept aside for exigencies during the monsoon.”