Paswan Rips Nitish on Bihar Flood Issue

Patna: Aug. 27, 2008

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) president and Union Steel and Fertilizer Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Wednesday conducted an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas in the Kosi region and blasted Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of Bihar, for failing to take timely action to keep the flood impact to a minimum.

"There is only one person to be blamed for this devastation and that is Nitish Kumar. This is not a natural calamity but a man-made catastrophe for which the Chief Minister owes a big apology to the people of Bihar," the LJP leader said.

As with other opposition leaders who are only to eager to milk the misery of Bihar for their own political expediency, Paswan, at a press conference in Patna following his aerial survey, said the Chief Minister willfully kept the Center in dark to hide his and his administration's failure in preventing such destruction from taking place in Bihar.

"Relief work is so poor in the flood-hit areas that I could not find any boat plying in Madhepura or Purnia. Aerial dropping of relief items is barely noticeable in Madhepura or Purnia. Aerial dropping of relief items is barely noticeable and all the Chief Minister is doing is sacking District Magistrates as if that would somehow restore normalcy in the affected areas," the Minister said.

Paswan is expected to join Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi tomorrow for yet another aerial survey in North Bihar.

Meanwhile, army moved in into Madhepura, Purnia, and Supaul on Wednesday to provide relief and rescue operation where several lakh people are stranded for last three days following breach in the Kusaha dam.

Over 500 people were rescued in Supaul where army jawans handling high-powered boats, despite Paswan's contradicting allegations, were seen busy pulling out people from house roofs and inundated farmlands.

According to the Emergency Management Department officials, 10 motorboats, 145 boats were pressed into service in Supaul alone while 11 motorboats and 86 boats were engaged in rescuing people in Madhepura area.

The government has also deployed an additional force of 750 police officers, 900 Special Auxiliary Police (SAP), 1,350 Home Guard jawans, and 8 companies of Bihar Military Police to provide relief in the Kosi region.