Parts of Gujarat are inundated as heavy rains continue to lash the state. Narmada river is still above the danger mark due to incessant downpour. Amid the weather fury, a new political war is brewing in Gujarat as the major Opposition parties alleged the ruling BJP government of creating a ‘man-made’ disaster.
According to an Indian Express report, the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party have alleged that the Gujarat state government opened the gate wall of the Sardar Sarovar dam to ‘please’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his 73rd birthday on Sunday. The Opposition claimed that the decision was taken without considering IMD’s heavy rainfall alert. The Sardar Sarovar Dam built on Narmada River reached its full reservoir capacity – 138.68 meters – for the first time in 2023.
The Opposition parties – Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) – have named this disaster as “man-made disaster” for deliberately opening 23 gates out of 30 of Sardar Sarovar dam causing a difficult time for Gujarat. So far, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rescued 37 people trapped in the floodwaters of Dhami river in Aravalli district’s Demai village and almost 10,000 people have been shifted to safer areas.
It is also claimed by farmer communities that the government had been rejecting the proposal of water release for past one month by Farmers of Saurashtra, Kutch and north Gujarat regions but unexpectedly the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL) took the action on Sunday, September 17.
Pal Ambaliya, chairman of the Gujarat Kisan Congress, the farmers’ wing of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) said, “In doing that, vested interests have certainly been protected but scores of people had to suffer large-scale damage. For example, farmers of Saurashtra, Kutch and north Gujarat regions had been longing for water for the past one month. But they were not given water because they (the government) were waiting for September 17.”
The Opposition claimed that the BJP was behind the mass destruction caused by the “artificial disaster” in Narmada dam. While AAP has extended support to the people of Bharuch district by providing free food and shelter, the members have also questioned the disaster and said in a statement, “People have a question in their minds now – is this current flood a natural disaster or a man-made one.”