Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday after returning from China, where he attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit, to discuss the worsening flood situation in the state and assured all possible support, government sources said.
Earlier in the day, Home Minister Amit Shah had also held separate conversations with both the Chief Minister and the Governor. Floods have devastated large parts of Punjab, claiming at least 29 lives across 12 severely affected districts.
Heavy rainfall in the upper catchment areas has caused the Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers, along with seasonal rivulets, to swell, inundating more than 1,000 villages. In some stretches, the Ravi has widened to more than ten times its usual width, submerging homes, cropland and entire villages.
According to official figures, 1,312 villages have been impacted, with at least 6,582 people shifted to 122 relief camps. The NDRF, Army, BSF and district authorities have rescued 14,936 people from marooned areas so far.
Drones are being used in Ajnala sector to deliver water, milk powder and dry rations to stranded families in villages such as Jassar and Sudhar.
The Central Water Commission reported that the Sutlej continues to overflow at the Kawanwali bridge in Fazilka and at three other points.
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Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs has deployed Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) to assess the damage in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir, all of which have been battered by torrential rain and floods in recent weeks.
Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, however, accused the Centre of neglecting the state’s plight.
He alleged that the Prime Minister had not spoken a single word about the disaster and criticised Amit Shah for failing to announce a relief package or release Rs 60,000 crore in pending dues owed to Punjab under GST compensation, rural development, mandi development and road schemes.
Cheema said his excise and taxation department had contributed Rs 50 lakh to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for flood victims. He also accused BJP leaders, including Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu, of indulging in politics rather than pressing the Centre for urgent assistance.
Recalling Punjab’s sacrifices during wars with China and Pakistan, Cheema said the state’s border regions had always borne the brunt of conflict but were now being met with “a blind eye” from New Delhi.
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