Union Minister Shivraj wades through knee-deep calamity in Punjab

Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shivraj Chouhan today visited Punjab and said he had been sent by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to assess the flood situation in the state that has always been the country’s food bowl.

“Punjabis have always been at the forefront when it comes to serving the country and humanity,” said Chouhan. Two central teams comprising officials from various departments, including Agriculture, Jal Shakti, Roads and Energy, had also arrived in the state to assess the loss and would soon submit reports to the Centre, he said.

Dismayed Cong says minister ‘hijacked’

• The Congress expressed its dismay over the way the BJP ‘hijacked’ the minister and did not let party MPs meet him
• Amrinder Warring said Chauhan’s office had given them appointment for 6 pm. “But when we reached, we were told the minister won’t be available till 10 pm and even after that, there was no certainty of meeting,” he said.

---

4 L acres submerged

Chouhan visited flood-hit Ghonewal village in the Ajnala border sub-division on foot to take first hand stock of the situation. He was accompanied by Union Minister for State Ravneet Bittu, BJP state president Sunil Jakhar, senior BJP leader Tarun Chugh.

Gurjit Aujla, Member of Parliament, Amritsar, also accompanied him. The minister also interacted with a couple of farmers on the spot.

Ghonewal is one of the worst-affected villages in the Ajnala as thousands of cusecs of water passed through it after a massive breach in the earthen embankment, leaving it completely submerged in around 10-12 feet water.

Ajnala MLA and former cabinet minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal met the Union minister and submitted a memorandum, seeking a Rs 2,000-crore relief package for the constituency. Chouhan assured him that the Central government would provide the required assistance to Punjab for relief and rehabilitation of the affected people. “The current floods in the Ravi are more devastating than those in 1988,” Dhaliwal pointed out.

Later, Punjab Agriculture minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian met Chouhan and said that over 4 lakh acres of Punjab’s agricultural land was submerged, thereby threatening both state and national food security. He said the devastation had resulted in significant losses to farmers and the state’s agricultural economy. The impact on the rural economy was exacerbated by substantial damage to livestock. He demanded immediate release of Rs 8,000 crore of Rural Development Fund and Market Development Fund stalled by the Central government apart from the special package of the “pending” Rs 60,000 crore from the Centre.

Earlier, Governor Gulab Chand Kataria, who has been visiting deluged areas for the past three days, submitted his assessment report of five districts to Chouhan.