Centre must release ₹20,000 crore as interim relief and also release pending ₹60,000 crore funds of Punjab
Punjab is reeling under the worst floods of the past half century; this will directly impact the nation’s food reserves: Meet Hayer
Chandigarh, September 1
Punjab, which is suffering from the most devastating floods of the past half century, needs urgent support to recover from this calamity and to provide relief to the affected people. In this regard, Member of Parliament from Sangrur, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking a special relief package for Punjab.
Meet Hayer has demanded that Punjab be given ₹20,000 crore as immediate interim relief and, after a comprehensive assessment of the total loss, a larger relief package should follow. Additionally, he has also urged the Centre to release the pending ₹60,000 crore funds of Punjab without delay. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has also appealed to the Prime Minister for urgent intervention in this matter. Meet Hayer stressed that it is now the duty of the Centre to support Punjab, the state that feeds the nation.
Meet Hayer said that the floods have caused loss of life, property, livestock, and massive damage to infrastructure, while also destroying crops over vast stretches of farmland. This will have a direct negative impact on the country’s food reserves. He emphasized that since Punjab is the nation’s food bowl, the Centre must extend its hand to support the state in this hour of crisis. The crops were damaged right at the peak of the harvest season. Apart from human and property losses, the floods have caused major loss of cattle, severely affecting dairy farming and allied livestock-based livelihoods.
Looking into the causes of these floods, the MP explained that due to heavy rainfall in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir, the water level in the Ravi River rose sharply, causing the Ranjit Sagar Dam to rise by 25 feet in the last 10 days. As a result, more water is being released than in 1988, leading to flooding in about 300 villages across three districts of Majha region. Similarly, excess water released from Pong Dam into the Beas River caused flooding in villages of Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur. Heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh also raised water levels in Bhakra Dam, resulting in severe flooding in districts along the Sutlej River. Meanwhile, continuous rainfall has kept the Ghaggar River on high alert, and September too has seen persistent rains across Punjab.
Meet Hayer urged the Prime Minister to announce a special central package for Punjab, which should include adequate compensation for flood-affected families, rebuilding of damaged infrastructure, restoration of irrigation systems, and strengthening of river embankments. He recommended that the embankments along the Ghaggar and other rivers be reinforced to at least 4.5 feet high for future protection.
He also appealed to the Prime Minister that, just as the Union Home Minister visited Jammu & Kashmir recently, senior leaders of the Centre should also visit Punjab to assess the ground-level situation and witness the scale of damage firsthand.
