Sipu Jha
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday renewed his demand for the release of the state’s pending funds worth Rs 60,000 crore from the Centre, in the wake of the crisis in flood-struck Punjab.Mann said that he was asking for Punjab’s “rights” and not “begging” as he claimed that Punjab had incurred losses of Rs 50,000 crore due to GST implementation.
He added that an additional Rs 8,000 crore under the rural development fund was also pending with the Centre.Mann visited flood-hit villages in Ferozepur district on Tuesday to analyse the situation on the ground.Punjab is battling with severe flooding as the death toll climbed to 30 after four more people lost their lives in Mansa, Fazilka and Ludhiana districts on Monday.Punjab CM on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the Centre to release all “stuck” funds amounting to nearly ₹60,000 crore and enhance financial relief for flood-hit farmers. In his letter, Mann demanded compensation of at least ₹50,000 per acre for affected farmers. He wrote, “about 3 lakh acres of farmland, primarily paddy fields, remain submerged under floodwater, leading to devastating crop losses just weeks before harvest”. Heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir has left the Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers swollen. Pathankot has recorded the highest casualties with six deaths, while three persons remain missing. Floodwaters have caused large-scale damage in Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Pathankot, Fazilka, Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur districts. Twelve of Punjab’s 23 districts have been impacted, affecting more than 2.56 lakh residents. So far, 15,688 people have been evacuated from submerged villages. Authorities have set up 129 relief camps, providing shelter to over 7,100 displaced persons. Rescue and relief operations are underway with the support of multiple agencies, including 20 teams of the NDRF and 10 columns of the Army.
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