Lashing out at Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, the Congress on Monday said, that the CM had decided to tour Russia when the state was facing a flood-like crisis.
State Congress president Girish Chodankar came down heavily on the Sawant-led administration for not co-ordinating with the Maharashtra government, after heavy rains and floods caused due to the release of water from the Tillari dam in Maharashtra, inundated the two border villages of Ibrahimpur and Sal in Goa, causing immense damage to livestock, agriculture and property.
"While Goa's countryside, especially villages like Sal and Ibrahimpur are flooded, the Chief Minister is away in Russia. Does he have no responsibility towards his own people and the crisis they are facing?" Chodankar told reporters at a press conference on Monday, hours after Sawant, along with several Chief Ministers left for Russia, as part of a central government delegation to attract investment in India.
Sal and Ibrahimpur, both rural villages located along the Goa-Maharashtra border were flooded after the Maharashtra government ordered the authorities at the Tillari dam, to release water from the dam which was almost full its capacity of 113 mts on Sunday.
The additional discharge of water flooded the villages which are located along the dam's canals in Goa, which has been facing an onslaught of heavy rains for the last two weeks.
"The Goa government could have at least co-ordinated with its Maharashtra counterparts before the dam water was released, so that residents of these two villages would not come to harm," Chodankar said.
On Sunday, water surged into the homes of the dwellers of the two villages and also washed away livestock as well as inundated farms and horticultural fields.
"The damage to the two villages is not a natural disaster but a man-made one, caused by the negligence of the Goa government," Chodankar also said.
Published 12 August 2019, 09:26 IST