Municipal areas stinking, charges Lok Satta

Municipal administration in urban areas has virtually collapsed going by the sharp deterioration in sanitation in the wake of incessant rains in the State, charged the Lok Satta Party here today.

Addressing the media, party leaders V. Laxman Balaji, Mrs. N. Saroja Devi and Mrs. K. Nagamani pointed out that with their term about to end and there being no prospect of immediate elections, elected people’s representatives have ignored the plight of people especially in slums. The State Government seems paralyzed because of internal rifts within the ruling party.

The Lok Satta leaders said that people pay taxes to the Government hoping it will ensure them sanitation, safe drinking water, medical and other facilities. Lok Satta activists engaged in drafting ward manifestos are being greeted by foul smelling garbage and overflowing drains everywhere. There is no sign of medical teams even as diseases like dengue are raging. People are forced to knock at private hospitals and incur huge expenditure as Government facilities have neither medicines nor doctors. Both officials and people’s representatives have turned a blind eye to the situation.

The Lok Satta leaders demanded that the Government launch a special sanitation drive in all municipal areas, dispatch medical teams and attend to people’s health problems.

The Lok Satta also demanded that the Government immediately go to the rescue of farmers who have suffered crop losses. According to Government’s own estimates, crops in some three lakh hectares have been submerged and crops like paddy, cotton, maize and green gram are under pest attack. They wanted the Government, which had failed to ensure fertilizer supply on time, to make available at least pesticides.