As Karnataka's capital Bengaluru continues to reel from flooding caused by heavy rains, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is facing flak from the Opposition Congress which has dared it to either perform or face fresh elections.
After Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai blamed the "maladministration" of the previous Congress governments for the Bengaluru's current situation, the Congress party hit back and alleged that the "corrupt" BJP government and its officials were responsible.
"If there were encroachments during the Congress tenure, let them [BJP] clear it. They had earlier got five years' time. They had now got five years. They should have done it. Not performing while in power and blaming previous Congress governments instead is not right," said Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar.
He further said that such a situation had never arisen during the Congress' tenure. He added, "It is because of your corruption and corruption by your officials. The Chief Minister has to bear this in mind. People have given you an opportunity. In case you are not able to perform, let's go for election."
The sparring between the BJP government and Opposition Congress comes as parts of Bengaluru continue to be waterlogged and submerged cars and boats being deployed in relief work remain common sights. Visuals of submerged cars and people using tractors to wade through the waters also appeared on the internet. Bikers pushing their two-wheelers stuck on flooded roads and pedestrians struggling to navigate through knee-deep water was a common sight in some places on Tuesday
Schools in the city have declared holidays and companies have asked their employees to work from home amid the crisis. A fresh spell of rain on Monday further added to people's woes.
Bommai cited "unprecedented rainfall and overflowing" water bodies for the deluge but assured his government's commitment to restore normalcy.
He said, "Karnataka, especially Bengaluru has not received unprecedented heavy rain...for the last 90 years such rain has not been recorded. All the tanks are full and are overflowing, some of them have breached, and there have been continuous rains, every day it is raining."
Blaming "maladministration and unplanned administration" of the previous Congress governments for the present misery, Bommai said they had given permissions for construction activities "right-left-centre" in the lake areas, on the tank bunds and buffer zones. He said they had never thought of maintaining the lakes and hastened to add he has now taken up a challenge to set things rights and had allocated Rs 1,500 crore for development of stormwater drains.
Lakes have indeed overflown this time, flooding nearby areas. Visuals have surfaced on social media.
The state Congress led by its Working President Ramalinga Reddy, Leader of Opposition in Legislative council B K Hariprasad held a protest against the BJP government accusing it of neglecting Bengaluru's infrastructure leading to the current situation and blamed it for "bringing down the pride" of the city, stating that several IT and BT industries were planning to shift to other cities.
Amid the sparring, people continued to face difficulties in their everyday lives.
"I came by tractor as roads are all submerged in water, also our vehicles are under water... I have exams from tomorrow, so I have to go to school," a girl dressed in school uniform said.
"Water has not receded, as there was rain once again last night (Monday), in fact I feel it has increased. I have to go to the office, kids have schools, and I somehow used a tractor today. Request the government and authorities to do something and restore normalcy," said an office-goer.
According to chief minister Bommai, some areas in the state capital have received 150 per cent more rains than normal between September 1 and 5. Mahadevapura, Bommanahalli and K R Puram have recorded 307 per cent excess rain, he said, without elaborating.
"This was the highest rainfall in the last 42 years. All the 164 tanks in Bengaluru are filled to the brim," he said.
A 23-year-old woman allegedly died due to electrocution after she came into contact with an electric pole while navigating a flooded road at Siddapura, police said. The incident is said to have taken place on Monday night, when the victim was returning home on her scooter.
Meanwhile, responding to the floods in the city, Telangana minister KT Ramarao called for "bold reforms in urban planning and governance."
Our cities are our primary economic engines driving the states'/country's growth and with rapid urbanisation and sub-urbanisation, "infrastructure is bound to crumble as we haven't infused enough capital into upgrading the same," he said in a tweet.
"We need bold reforms in urban planning & governance. Get away from conservative mindset..." he said in another tweet.
"Clean roads, clean water, clean air & better storm water management systems are not hard to build," Ramarao, son of Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhara Rao, added.
(With PTI inputs)
