The met department sent emails to the CM's office, the chief secretary and all dept heads on September 27, but no one bothered to log in
The Met department sent emails to the CM's office, the chief secretary and all dept heads on September 27, but no one bothered to log in
The havoc caused by flash floods last weekend could have been minimised if only the government had checked an email that came from the meteorology department.
The emergency message, sent to all department heads, went unnoticed because of the holidays that week September 26, Saturday was Durgashtami and Ayudha Pooja, and Monday was Vijayadashami.
Many officials had taken leave, casual or earned, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and to get an entire week off, thanks to Gandhi Jayanti on Friday. "We sent a 48-hour forecast every day to the CM's office, chief secretary and all department heads by fax," said a met officer. "Since the forewarning on September 27 was important, we even sent an e-mail, but nobody took it seriously."
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Search and save: Search operations being carried out in North Karnataka to locate and rescue trapped residents in those areas |
Chintan Baithak
While officials were in a holiday mood, ministers were attending the chintan bhaitak between September 28 and 30 with Narendra Modi, under the CM's leadership, near Mysore. "It was a complete shutdown of government machinery, as there was nobody to take care of the administration, leave alone a flood," said a senior officer.
Man-made disaster
The rains began on September 29 but the situation worsened when the sluice gates of the dams were thrown open. "The clueless officers were left with no option but to release water from the dams. It was mindless, as no preventive measures were taken," said the met officer.
Water from the Tunga Bhadra dam, Narayanapura dam, Bhadra dam, and Alamatti dam marooned entire North Karnataka. "It was a manmade disaster," said a flood victim from Bijapur.
Lapse by officers
Shobha Karandlaje, Minister for Rural Development, admitted, "There has been a lapse on the part of government officers. Our immediate priority is the rescue operation, after which we will take them to task." She is spearheading the rescue operations in Bijapur, Raichur, Bellary, and Bagalkot.
