People's Democracy

  CPI(M) Demands Formation Of Citizens’ Committees

Yechury Tours Flood-Affected Areas

THE Communist Party of India (Marxist) has demanded from the Maharashtra state government to immediately form citizens’ committees at local area level to oversee relief and rehabilitation work in Mumbai and other parts of the state ravaged by floods. The Party has also asked for urgent steps to stop rampant corruption and mismanagement in the relief work.

This was conveyed to the state chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh by a delegation of CPI(M) leaders led by Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury on August 10 in Mumbai. The delegation included veteran CPI(M) leader Ahilya Rangnekar, Party state secretary Ashok Dhawale, state secretariat members Krishna Khopkar, Mahendra Singh, K L Bajaj and Party MLAs Narsayya Adam and Raja Ozare. The CPI(M) delegation submitted a memorandum to the chief minister in the meeting which lasted over half an hour. The memorandum focussed on two issues – urgently streamlining relief work in Mumbai and taking up rehabilitation and relief work in rest of the state.

Yechury told the chief minister about his impressions and the response of the people he met earlier in the day while touring the affected areas. The chief minister assured the CPI(M) leaders that the state cabinet which met earlier had decided to take urgent measures for providing relief and rehabilitation.

Yechury along with the above-mentioned CPI(M) leaders undertook a whirlwind tour of Mumbai from 8.30 in the morning to 2.30 in the afternoon. Among the places he visited were Goregaon East and West, Andheri East and West, Marol, Naupada, Sakinaka, Kalina, Vakola, Santa Cruz West, Khadi No. 3 to take stock of the situation. All these places were the most affected areas in Mumbai. In Kalina, the water level had reached 15 feet while in most of the other areas mentioned above it was at 8-10 feet level. Entire ground floors and hutments in these areas were totally submerged resulting in loss of hundreds of lives and tremendous loss of property.

Hundreds of people met the CPI(M) leaders in each area and their universal complaint was that government relief was not reaching them. Although relief material distribution has begun, many are not getting it and there are complaints of corruption. All in all the CPI(M) leaders felt there was tremendous anarchy in government efforts. Most people were also worried about any lack of plans by the state government for rehabilitating them. The CPI(M) leaders found poignant scenes at Khadi No 3 which witnessed a major landslide resulting in death of over 250 people. 150 bodies were extricated and the rest laid buried under the debris.

Yechury promised the people that the CPI(M), which is already actively engaged in providing relief to the people in the areas where it has presence, would put pressure on the state government to get its act together in providing relief.

Later, addressing a jam-packed media conference, Yechury lambasted the corporate and MNCs who have a huge presence in Mumbai for utterly failing to come forward to help the people of the city in their hour of need. Not a single company of worth has responded to this great catastrophe which claimed hundreds of lives. Since the city proper where these corporates and the elite sections are based was the least affected, they did not bother to lend a helping hand to the people in suburbs who faced much of the brunt.

Referring to the private Reliance electricity company taking 8-10 days in restoring the power supply, Yechury contrasted this failure with the much maligned public sector MSEB’s achievement of restoring power supply within 2-3 days. This should open the eyes of those who still believe privatisation would result in efficiency, said Yechury. He announced that the CPI(M) central committee had donated Rs 4 lakh to the Maharashtra state committee of the Party for its relief work while the Bengal state committee had also sent Rs 5 lakh for relief work. Ashok Dhawale told the media that the Party state committee had given a statewide call for fund/material mobilisation for the relief work. He said the Party and its mass organisations are totally involved in providing relief and rehabilitation not just in Mumbai but all over the state where floods had affected the people.

 (INN)