B’luru floods: Siddaramaiah attacks ruling BJP for blaming Cong, demands white paper

PTI, Sep 8, 2022, 5:40 PM IST

Accusing the ruling BJP in Karnataka of trying to ‘shift blame’ on the Congress for the recent rain-related miseries in Bengaluru to hide its failures, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah on Thursday urged the government to come out with a white paper on clearing encroachment on stormwater drains in the city.

The former Chief Minister said, the ”brand Bengaluru” is affected, and all attempts should be made to protect the pride of the city at the international level.

”During our tenure, we had identified the encroachment and measures were taken to clear most encroachments on stormwater drains. If merciless action against the encroachers had continued, such a situation wouldn’t have arisen…. BJP is responsible for the havoc,” Siddaramaiah said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai has blamed the previous Congress governments for the mess, but the BJP government should reveal what they did in the last three years; how many encroachments on the stormwater drains have been cleared.

”Just to deflect from the responsibility, to hide their failures, the previous Congress government is being blamed. It is not the answer…. I will raise this in the assembly, let them bring out a white paper and reveal as to what happened during whose time,” he added.

The Congress Legislature Party leader today visited several rain-battered areas of the state capital and took stock of the situation.

Further noting that many IT industries have threatened to move out of Bengaluru, if such a situation continues, Siddaramaiah said before such a situation arises, the government needs to take measures and provide them necessary infrastructure.

”There is no politics in this. I urge this government to take the necessary steps immediately to remove the encroachments and clear the stormwater drains,” he added.

Siddaramaiah also visited the house of a 23-year-old woman, who allegedly died recently due to electrocution after she came into contact with an electric pole while navigating a road flooded with rainwater near Whitefield.