Punjab seeks Rs 20,000-cr flood relief package from Centre as PM Modi visits state today

On the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to flood-ravaged Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party government on Monday demanded a relief package of Rs 20,000 crore from the Centre even as the state Cabinet hiked the compensation for the affected farmers by Rs 13,200 per acre from Rs 6,800 to Rs 20,000.

The PM would conduct an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas in Punjab, an official said. He is scheduled to visit Gurdaspur where he would meet victim families and hold a review meeting with senior government ministers and officials to take stock of the situation, the official said.

Modi will also visit neighbouring Himachal Pradesh, which too has suffered extensive damage due to cloudbursts and flashfloods, and chair a review meeting in Kangra.

With Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann still indisposed and admitted to hospital, a delegation of ministers and top government officials will be receiving the PM. The visit is being seen by analysts as an attempt by the BJP to make inroads into rural Punjab ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. The ruling AAP’s decision to hike the compensation for farmers by Rs 13,200 per acre —Rs 6,800 per acre is the upper limit under the Centre’s disaster management rules — is also being viewed as a step in this direction.

Punjab minister and AAP state president Aman Arora said the “PM must announce Rs 20,000 crore package in view of the unprecedented losses”. He said the Centre must also immediately release the state’s pending dues of Rs 60,000 crore.

“Our government and all Punjabis welcome the PM with folded hands for his visit. We expect he will understand our pain and provide some immediate relief. Crops on 4.30 lakh acres have been destroyed, 3.60 lakh livestock have perished and hundreds of houses have collapsed. Punjab is experiencing a tragedy never seen before,” said Arora.

Noting that the prevailing flood situation was even worse than the 1988 deluge, Arora said it would be difficult for farmers to grow the next crop as silt had deposited in their flood-hit fields. He slammed Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for blaming illegal mining in rivers for flooding, accusing him of engaging in “disaster tourism” by getting pictures clicked during his recent visit to Punjab.