Punjab seeks change in norms for increasing compensation for flood-hit people

Chandigarh, August 10

The Punjab government on Thursday sought from an inter-ministerial Central team relaxation in the norms for increasing disaster relief for victims as it worked out losses of over Rs 1,300 crore due the recent floods in the state.

A seven-member inter-ministerial team of the Centre, which visited the flood-hit areas of Mohali, Patiala, Sangrur, Jalandhar and Rupnagar districts in the past two days to assess the losses, held a meeting with Punjab Chief Secretary Anurag Verma here.

.@CsPunjab Anurag Verma has requested the central team to give relaxation in the norms of assistance to the victims to compensate them for the damage caused by the floods. He said that CM @BhagwantMann has already written a letter to the Union Home Minister (1/2) pic.twitter.com/alNz1ZZeCY

— Government of Punjab (@PunjabGovtIndia) August 10, 2023

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

During the meeting here on Thursday, the Chief Secretary requested the Central team to allow a relaxation in the norms for financial assistance to the flood-affected people, according to an official release.

Verma pointed out that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has already written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, saying there is no shortfall in the state disaster response fund (SDRF) and only a change in the norms for compensating the damage is required so that loss of the people can be fully compensated.

Punjab has demanded to increase the compensation amount for the loss of life and property in the floods, he said.

The Chief Secretary submitted a detailed report to the Central team during the meeting after sharing with them figures of department-wise flood damage.

In the letter written to Shah, the chief minister urged that the amount of compensation for the loss of life be doubled from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 8 lakh, Rs 17,000 to Rs 34,000 for crop damage, Rs 37,500 to Rs 75,000 for milch animals and Rs 1.20 lakh to Rs 2.40 lakh for damaged houses, Verma said.

He said the state government is standing by its people in their hour of crisis and has funds to provide compensation, but it is unable to provide adequate compensation only because of the norms of the Union Home Ministry.

The Chief Secretary asserted there is, therefore, a need to change these norms.

Ravinesh Kumar, the financial advisor of the National Disaster Management Authority, during the meeting said that his team visited many flood-hit states and Punjab suffered the maximum damages after Himachal Pradesh.

AV Suresh Babu, another member of the team from the ISRO and head of the flood mapping team, said it is also clear through the satellite images that heavy rain caused a lot of damage in Punjab and many areas are affected heavy floods.

Giving details of the overall damages, the Chief Secretary said the agriculture sector suffered the damage of Rs 605.38 crore followed by roads and buildings at Rs 173.10 crore, water resources at Rs 159.36 crore, urban infrastructure and local government offices at Rs 44.38 crore, rural development and panchayats at Rs 43.66 crore, school education at Rs 26.85 crore, power at Rs 17.50 crore, fisheries at Rs 9.98 crore, water supply at Rs 5.66 crore, health at Rs 4.45 crore and miscellaneous at Rs 230.26 crore.

A total loss of Rs 1,320.59 crore has been incurred, he added.

In this regard, the Chief Secretary wrote a letter to the Union Home Secretary and informed that about 1,500 villages in 19 districts have been affected due to floods in the state.