[intro]AP Municipal Administration Minister P. Narayana sent to over see relief operations in Nellore has found himself at the receiving end as it was his department allowed to build houses encroaching canals resulting in the flash floods.[/intro]
Andhra Pradesh Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister P Narayana has found himself at the receiving end on his home turf. The lecturer turned politician from Nellore has been sent to his home town by Chief Minister N Chandababu Naidu, to oversee relief operations.Heavy rains brought flash floods inundating several parts of the Nellore town causing breaches to the local tanks and canals in last couple of days. An estimated 3000 cusecs of water has gushed out of breached local tank and other water bodies and flooded several residential areas in the town, with water logging to seven to eight feet, leaving people to run and take shelter in the temporary relief camps put up by the government.
With a Good Samaritan spirit, the minister ordered the engineers of municipal, irrigation and revenue officials, to follow him on his tour to the water logged areas. It was to figure out a way to drain the water and to save the people.Naryana Sir, a blue-eyed boy of the chief minister, is considered to be someone having a Midas touch, and whatever he touches and works on said to be turned into gold. This time too, he reportedly hoped to find out a solution with his entire ‘statistical’ and ‘mathematical’ prowess. But, it took little time for him, to realise nothing is going to work, and there is no way he could square up with anything, to figure out a solution. This has resulted in Narayana to back off from his mission to figure out a solution to drain the water, instead, he ended up in a bashing his political opponents for causing the floods.
Explaining the whole episode, a revenue official said that the minister had good intention and wanted to do something. But, the officials put everything in black and white, that all the 13 storm drains have been encroached upon and building have been constructed at several places. Even what were acted as agriculture canals and feeder channels to the local water tanks too were encroached. A canal of 60-feet width has shrunk to 6-feet at several points, and the canals have turned defunct due to formation of silt over the years. All this has resulted in the flash floods, the officials explained to Narayna. Also, they briefed him that it was the municipal administration and urban development department which is guilty of giving approval for construction of houses, and regularising such encroachments due to political pressures.
But, when media asked him, not able to blame his own department is responsible for the flash floods, he attacked that it was the politicians in the erstwhile government (Congress government) responsible for encroachments and vowed to restore the canals and storm water drains to their original shape. However, also aware of there are several localities of the poor, who are the voters of his own party, Narayana promised them they would be adequately compensated when the government takes up the restoration of canals and storm water drains in Nellore town.
