Bhagwant Mann visits flood-hit areas in Shahkot, slams delay in silt removal

Deepkamal Kaur

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Jalandhar, July 14

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today visited flood-hit Shahkot villages and instructed Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner Vishesh Sarangal that he should not be required to visit the area again for taking stock of a similar situation.

“I do not want to see this terrible sight again. People should come to this bridge to click selfies and not for being witness to such scenes of calamity,” he said.

He told the DC that the silt under the Gidderpindi railway bridge should be removed as soon as the flood waters receded. Environmentalist and Rajya Sabha MP Balbir Singh Seechewal had already apprised the CM about the silt under the bridge that obstructed the normal course of river water flow, leading to twin breaches in the bundh, causing damage in around 30 villages.

Special girdawari for flood victims

• During his visit to Nihala Lavera village in Ferozepur, CM Bhagwant Mann said the government would compensate the flood victims for the loss of every single penny
• He said a special girdawari would be conducted to ascertain the losses due to floods and added that they would also provide free paddy saplings to farmers
• Narrow escape for Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann as boat wobbles
  As Mann set out on a boat tour to flooded villages, a motorboat, being driven by MP Balbir Singh Seechewal, wobbled after it had covered about 150 m. No one in the boat was reportedly wearing a life jacket.

  Speaking on the Zira unit, the CM said, “I will not let it run again. I am the CM and I cannot tell you lies. They better take away all their equipment and leave.”

Seechewal said the water was flowing only through three of 21 gates under the railway bridge because the remaining gates were blocked due to silt. The CM said, “There is no shortage of government funds and tenders for the work should be floated as soon as possible. Special machines should be requisitioned for the work, if needed.”

The DC told the CM that the tendering process for removing silt from the Sutlej had been started, but the rainy season began too early. Mann said, “Nature cannot be blamed for this. Preparations should have been made in advance. We are here for the people. Some immediate results are required.”

Talking to some youths from Ferozepur, the CM said, “Now, Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal aren’t asking for water. They have left Punjab to drown. But Punjab will spring back on its own.”