Pradeep Singh

Bhubaneswar: The State unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday alleged Odisha government of being callous towards Titli restoration works and asked if an assistance of Rs 1000 and 50 kg rice was sufficient for the victims.

After a fact-finding team of the saffron party visited the Titli-affected areas of Ganjam and Gajapati districts on Tuesday, BJP MLA Pradip Purohit lashed out at the State government today alleging that relief is yet to reach most of the people of the affected regions.

The Naveen Patnaik-government claims to have already spent Rs 831 crore in restoration works but people are still living in miserable conditions. The State government still has over Rs 1000 crore provided by the Centre for restoration works, but mismanagement of funds meant for the purpose marred the entire process, said Purohit.

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"In the name of relief, people have got Rs 1000 and 50 kg rice; some have got Rs 2000; and by doing this much, the government assumes its responsibility is over. Torn polythene sheets have been supplied and not even a single house has been rebuilt in the affected districts," the Padampur legislator alleged.

People still have no roof over their heads and taking shelter in schools with their small kids. The villagers staying in government camps are facing difficulties in getting food as the supplies have stopped. The ground zero condition is really miserable, he lamented.

However, BJD spokesperson, Pratap Deb refuted the allegations of BJP stating that the government is serious about the restoration works.

"The allegations of the Padampur MLA are false, baseless and without evidence. The affected-districts have got Rs 225 crore of which Rs 134 crore have been spent for polythene sheets, blankets, crop loss assistance, drinking water and other restoration work. I have details of the money spent," said Deb.

He further said that the Centre had earlier sent a team of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) during Titli and it had praised the works and efforts of the Odisha government. "They (Odisha BJP) should first decide whether the team sent by its government at the Centre is right or he (Purohit) is," he added.

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