Kochi: Leader of the Opposition in Assembly V D Satheesan on Sunday blamed the Kerala government for the failure in pre-monsoon works even as the search and rescue operation to trace a sanitation worker, who was swept away while cleaning Amayizhanchan canal in Thiruvananthapuram, entered second day.
Addressing the media at the District Congress Committee (DCC) office in Kochi, Satheesan said it was sad that a man had to go missing to remove tonnes of waste from the canal. He said he was praying for the life of the missing worker.
“When the opposition pointed out in the assembly that the government has failed to carry out the pre-monsoon sanitation works, the Local Self Governance Minister (M B Rajesh) ridiculed us. We would like to ask the minister what he was doing all these days. It is said that there was a dispute between the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation and the Railways over cleaning the canal. If at all there was such a dispute, wasn’t the government supposed to resolve it? The government should have taken the initiative to call the two parties for a discussion and find a solution. The government did not do that. This type of apathy is seen everywhere,” Satheesan said.
Joy (47), a temporary cleaning worker, had gone missing while cleaning the waste-filled canal, criss-crossing through the heart of the capital city, on Saturday. Joy and two other workers were engaged in cleaning the Thampanoor part of the canal near the Railway Station when the water flow increased due to heavy rainfall. The search resumed this morning with the entire state machinery, including fire force personnel, its scuba team, police, civic workers and the NDRF men engaged in the operation.
The Congress leader said the local self-governance department and health department have been remaining mute spectators without any coordination even as epidemics have been spreading across the state.
He said the government did not release adequate funds to local bodies for carrying out pre-monsoon works. “Last year, only one instalment of the allocation was released. When the second and third instalments were released, the treasury was closed. Then the government has made it mandatory to spend 80 per cent of the funds,” he said.
Repeating his allegations against the health department, Satheesan said even as pandemics spread, the Health Minister (Veena George) was busy receiving people accused in criminal cases to the CPM. He was referring to the controversy over a few youths involved in criminal cases joining the party in Pathanamthitta. “The minister received even a person who has been absconding in a case relating to the attempt to murder an SFI worker. The CPM is recruiting even accused in narcotics cases. The minister’s action amounts to violation of her oath. She should resign,” he said.
