Punjab floods: Central team visits Jalandhar, Rupnagar districts

Chandigarh, August 9

A seven-member inter-ministerial team of the Centre visited the flood-hit areas of Jalandhar and Rupnagar districts in Punjab on Wednesday to assess the losses.

The team, led by National Disaster Management Authority Financial Adviser Ravinesh Kumar, visited flood-affected areas of Mohali, Patiala and Sangrur districts on Tuesday.

Several parts of Punjab were affected by a downpour in the state between July 9 and 11 that flooded vast tracts of agricultural fields and other areas, besides paralysing life.

Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner Vishesh Sarangal said villages in the Shahkot subdivision witnessed extensive destruction and reported six breaches due to the floods.

He briefed the central team about the relief and rescue operations and the rehabilitation efforts that are underway.

The floods damaged 22,476 acres in 25 villages and crops on 13,108 acres in 40 villages. It also damaged 50 homes, 30 schools and electricity infrastructure, Sarangal said.

The agriculture department has provided free saplings of basmati 1509 and PR-126 varieties of paddy to farmers in the flood-affected areas, resulting in resowing on nearly 6,400 acres, he said.

Sarangal informed the central team that farmers will not be able to resow the crop on more than 5,000 acres as the fields are still waterlogged.

In Rupnagar, Deputy Commissioner Preeti Yadav informed the team about the damage in the Chamkaur Sahib, Rupnagar, Morinda, Sri Anandpur Sahib, Kiratpur Sahib and Nangal blocks.