Punjab seeks Rs 1,000 cr special aid from Centre

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 25

The damage caused in Punjab by floods, mainly on account of water being released through spillways of the Bhakra Dam, was immense and needed special assistance from the Centre, in addition to the relief that was being provided through the Disaster Relief Management Fund, the state government has said.

Though the Union Government initially asked Punjab to provide relief from the disaster fund of Rs 6,200 crore lying with the state, Punjab has been insisting on a special package of Rs 1,000 crore to rebuild infrastructure, a senior government official said. Punjab has reasoned that the relief fund could not be used for rebuilding infrastructure. A damage assessment had found that several educational inst

itutes, including the IIT, National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology and government-run and private schools and colleges, had suffered major losses due to floods in Ropar, Jalandhar and Kapurthala. Besides, power infrastructure had been damaged in Ropar, Nawanshahr, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, Ferozepur and Fazilka, an official said.

“We are yet to assess how many tubewells lie inundated in villages and whether these will require re-boring,” said a senior official after meeting Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to discuss the flood situation. It was on Capt Amarinder’s request that the Union Home Ministry, which grants special assistance, had decided to send teams to assess the damage in Punjab along with 11 other states, he said.

Though Punjab again witnessed rains in Mohali, Ropar, Nawanshahr, Patiala, Ludhiana and Ferozepur districts today, it was nominal. A person was feared drowned in the Sutlej in Fazilka while death of 176 cattle heads and damage to 161 houses had been reported from Ropar, said officials. With the Army’s help, the state government managed to strengthen an embankment at Tendiwala village in Ferozepur and averted flooding of nearby villages, they said. 

State government teams had been reaching out to affected villages through boats with health and veterinary teams and food and potable water supply, said the CM. Officials said it could take another week for normalcy to be restored in flood-hit areas provided no fresh rain was witnessed. 

Rescue operation on 

Ferozepur: 500 evacuated, 630 given relief in 15 marooned villages in Makhu and Hussainiwala

Jalandhar: 31 evacuated, 389 families given medical aid, 655 treated at OPDs while 4,600 treated at medical camps

Kapurthala:  Dry rations and other relief material provided to people; 1,415 given medical aid; veterinary care provided to 640 cattle

Ropar: 500 evacuated, drinking water and power supply restored in affected villages; 3,300 provided medical aid

Fortify banks along Pakistan border: Captain 

Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Sunday asked the Water Resources Department to work out a joint action plan to strengthen embankment along the India-Pakistan border to avert flooding of nearby villages.