CM orders girdawari, Rs 100-cr relief

Tribune News Service

Ropar, August 19

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday ordered a special girdawari to assess the loss suffered by farmers and announced 

Rs 100 crore for emergency relief and rehabilitation measures in the flood-hit areas of the state. The CM, who visited the affected areas near the town, said the girdawari would start as soon as the floodwater receded.

While water has already started receding to some extent in villages near Ropar, areas near Anandpur Sahib are still submerged in knee-deep water.

The CM, accompanied by Speaker Rana KP Singh, Cabinet minister Charanjit Singh Channi, local MP Manish Tewari and MLA Amarjit Singh Sandoa, besides Chief Principal Secretary to CM Suresh Kumar, first reached the headworks bridge to assess the situation and then visited a slum area near mini secretariat. A large number of huts were washed away yesterday.

He also visited the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Ropar, where the authorities have asked the students to go back to their homes for one week as three substations supplying power to the campus are submerged. The CM directed the administration to ensure boarding and lodging arrangements for the students who could not go to their homes at Punjab Bhawan and Kisan Bhawan in Chandigarh.

He then visited Khairabad village, one of the worst-affected areas. A group of people there raised slogans against the state government. They alleged that they were not allowed to meet the CM even as they had suffered huge losses due to floods. Capt Amarinder heeded to their request and gave them a patient hearing.

Talking to the media, the CM described the situation as unprecedented and said nearly 3,000 people in the district were displaced due to floods. He instructed the district officials to organise health camps to prevent any outbreak of diseases. He also asked the animal husbandry department to provide veterinary health services and ensure supply of feed and fodder.

Opposition blames BBMB, successive governments

• The AAP has expressed dismay over the loss of lives and properties due to floods, saying that both the previous BJP-SAD and the Congress governments were responsible for it. 

• State party chief Bhagwant Mann said the drainage and canal network had gone for a toss as it had been hijacked by the mafia enjoying political patronage. 

• Former Anandpur Sahib MP Prem Singh Chandumajra also blamed the Congress government and the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) for floods in the area. 

• He said while the government failed in completing formalities for channelling work on the Swan and Sutlej rivers, the BBMB failed in managing inflow in the reservoir.