The opposition staged a walkout in the Assembly on Wednesday accusing the government of having done nothing for the victims of the August deluge even two months after the House held a special session on the floods on December 5 last year. They walked out after speaker P Sreeramakrishnan refused permission for an adjournment motion moved by Congress MLA V D Satheesan.
While moving the motion, Satheesan said that there were serious defects in the way the list of fully damaged houses was drawn up. He said there was a reduction of over 3,000 houses in the new list read out by revenue minister E Chandrasekharan. “Last time, he said there were over 16,000 houses that were fully damaged. The latest list says it is only 13,000 plus. Where have the 3000-odd houses gone,” Satheesan said. “The number of houses should have actually gone up, not down, given the number of complaints that have cropped up,” he added.
Satheesan then alleged that the state government had issued directions to the officials to reduce the number of houses fully damaged. “Or else there is no reason why there should be a fall in the number of houses that were damaged,” he said.
The Paravur MLA said the government should be open to the genuine complaints raised by the flood victims. As example he cited the plight of a man named Johnny who lived in Chendamangalam. “As many as seven high-level teams, from World Bank officials to state officials to people's representatives, had visited his house. All were shocked at the sight. But Johnny's house does not figure in even the list of partially damaged houses,” Satheesan said.
He also alleged that the government had not reconstructed even a single rural road in the state. “In fact, the state has not spent a rupee on rural roads during the three years of its tenure,” Satheesan said. He also said houses along river banks that were destroyed by the floods had become highly vulnerable. “There was a promise to protect the banks by constructing walls. This has not been done,” he said.
He also asked whether any bank had granted loan to anyone who had lost all their household equipment. “There is a limit to the loans that can be provided by the Kudumbashree,” Satheesan said. The revenue minister later said Rs 922 crore were disbursed as loan through Kudumbashree.
Satheesan also said the compensation given to those who had lost cattle was also inadequate. “Now, the government gives just Rs 30,000 for a lost cow when the actual cost of a cow is Rs 70,000. And they have limited the assistance to a maximum of three cows lost, which is Rs 90,000. I can show people who have lost five, ten, twelve, and even more cows. With the compensation now on offer, a livestock farmer who had lost three or more cows can purchase two-and-a-half cows,” Satheesan said.
He also said that the government had utilised less than 25 per cent of the Rs 7174.54 crore it now had at its disposal.
The minister did not rebut Satheesan point by point. He just said that Rs 857.7 crore had already been disbursed for the reconstruction of damaged houses. He also said Rs 457.23 crore had been spent as primary assistance.
