Orissa floods;NCP demands compensation from NH authority

Bhubaneswar,Jun 27(UNI) The Orissa unit of the Nationalist Congress Party(NCP)today demanded compensation from the National Highway Authority for the recent floods in north Orissa.

NCP state president and former minister Bijaya Mohapatra, who toured the worst hit Balasore district,told newspersons here that the faulty design and construction of NH 60 had led to submergence of hundreds of villages in the district.

He said in the absence of any drainage system several villages were marooned and the road connection on the national highway snapped at many places.

The NCP leader also blamed the Irrigation department for not taking steps to strengthen the weak embankments along the Subarnerekha river before the monsoon as a result of which as many as 25 breaches occurred, bringing much devastation in the area.

The Orissa government,Mr.Mohapatra said, should demand adequate compensation from the NH authority and spend the money for relief and rehabilitation of the flood victims.

The NCP president also demanded that the Engineering Division of the Army be requisitioned to repair the two important bridges that disrupted communication on both rail and road between Howrah and Chennai for the last ten days.

Stating that the situation in flood-hit Balasore was still critical,Mr.Mohapatra demanded at least two months' relief to the affected people of Balasore and Mayurbhanj.

He said lakhs of people had been rendered homeless while thousands of acres paddy field badly damaged in the flood.Even after ten days the people, who had taken shelter on the national highways, school buildings and temporary camps, had little courage to return to their villages although water had receded at many places.

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