Twenty-three persons have died in Punjab over the past one week in the worst floods that the state has witnessed in decades. Eight deaths were reported in Pathankot, seven in Hoshiarpur, three each in Rupnagar and Barnala, and two in Gurdaspur.
Having rescued more than 16,000 people from 1,018 flood-hit villages across Punjab, the state government has started assessing the losses. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has constituted a high-powered committee to oversee relief and rescue operations being conducted by the state government, Army, BSF, Air Force and the National Disaster Response Force.
Presiding over a meeting to assess the situation in Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Ferozepur and Fazilka districts, Mann directed Chief Secretary KAP Sinha to speed up relief operations, observing that an unprecedented discharge of 14.11 lakh cusecs of water in the Ravi caused the maximum damage.
Social Security Minister Dr Baljit Kaur said her department was ensuring the safety of flood-affected people and coordinating with the Health Department to prevent any outbreak of water-borne diseases.
While water levels in the Ravi and Beas have started receding in Majha and Doaba belts, the situation in Patiala and Sangrur is worrisome with the overflowing Ghaggar flooding many catchment areas. The water levels in Tangri and Markanda rivulets flowing across Patiala district are also alarmingly high.
The government is keeping a close watch on the situation in Dharamkot in Gurdaspur, where the Ravi is flowing well above the danger mark. The civil administration, police and central forces are conducting rescue operations in 323 flood-affected villages in Gurdaspur and 81 in Pathankot even as the water levels at the Madhopur and Ujh barrages have receded.
In Amritsar, the flow of water from the Ramdas area towards Ajnala has flooded about 15 villages. While the water levels have started receding in Tarn Taran, Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala districts, it will take several days for the flood-affected villages in these districts to return to normal.
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