Holding the Badals and the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh equally responsible for the plight of marooned people, Punjab Ekta Party president Sukhpal Singh Khaira on Friday said that the pitiable waterlogged plight of Bathinda and other cities was a result of “inapt futuristic planning” by our leaders, failure to install storm sewers and rampant corruption in Local Bodies Department.
Khaira, also Bholath MLA, warned that the entire Punjab would drown if rains continued for a few more days adding that flooding of Bathinda city and similar situation in other cities of state is “politician-made disaster”.
He said that “greedy” politicians had made hell of flourishing state of Punjab and they were least concerned about the plight of people marooned by floods caused by incessant rain.
Blaming the former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and the present incumbent equally responsible for unplanned growth of cities and towns of Punjab, he said that both were continuously in power for the last many decades.
“It is shameful for political leaders like Finance Minister Manpreet Badal and Union Food Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal that people of Bathinda were forced to bear six-eight feet deep water logging, as their belongings have been damaged. The office of Inspector General, the residences of senior officers and court complex were flooded and there is no provision for drainage of water,” he pointed.
He pointed that the political leaders made no futuristic planning of cities, no master plans are in place and no storm sewers are laid anywhere. “The natural flow of water has been obstructed by haphazard construction, the seasonal rivulets and nullahs have been grabbed by land mafia led by political leaders. Even village ponds have been grabbed by influential political people and rain water is now flooding the villages and destroying crops on large scale,” he said.
Demanded 100 percent compensation for the damage of household of Bathinda residents, Khaira said that he feared break out of water borne diseases in Bathinda and other towns, if immediate steps were not taken.
