Govt ignored Kapurthala: Residents

Deepkamal Kaur

Jalandhar, August 25

Residents, especially the villagers affected by the floods, have begun to allege that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has been ignoring their district.

The residents have alleged that even as there was spate of floods in the district, especially in Sultanpur Lodhi and Bholath, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann did not visit the area even once.

“We have been in floodwaters for the past one month. Our houses are crumbling with each passing day. Our lives have become miserable. Three persons have died and another one is still missing. But no one has come and asked us how we are managing. Does the government even exist?” asked Paramjit Singh, an activist of the Baupur Mand area.

Sardul Singh, another villager from Sultanpur Lodhi, said, “We were expecting a government minister to visit our area on the Independence Day but no one came. Our DC was asked to hoist the flag. We are of the view that the AAP government is deliberately ignoring Kapurthala as none of its leaders has won from the four Assembly seats in the district during the 2022 elections.”

Rana Inder Partap Singh, an Independent MLA from the area, has been asking, “A 40-km stretch of Kapurthala right from Dhilwan side to Harike and back upto Gidderpindi in Jalandhar has been affected due to floods from the Beas and Sutlej rivers. The crop on 40,000 acres has been destroyed. The animals have drowned. People have lost so much in floods. Leave the CM, no minister of the AAP government has come to see and assess losses in our area.”

He said, “The CM or minister should have visited Kapurthala. Only then they could have learnt about the factors that led to so much trouble and losses. Now, they would depend on their SDOs, who actually have failed miserably to do their work.”

“When I raised the issue of non-disbursal of crop relief, the government released Rs 2.5 crore, which actually means Rs 500 to Rs 600 per acre. Is it a joke?” the MLA said.

AAP leader and ex-minister Joginder Mann said, “There is nothing like that. Such perception is being wrongly built around the government in our district. Everything is being properly taken care of.”