Over 5,300 Acre Washed Away In Recent Floods In Punjab: Survey

Chandigarh: Over 5,300 acres of land, spread across 15 of the total 23 districts of Punjab, have been washed away in the floods that ravaged the state in the months of August and September, this year, according to the special girdawari (survey) conducted by the state government in the flood-hit areas.

The survey revealed that the land got washed away due to the spate in the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej rivers after Beas changed its course because of breaches in its embankments at 55 places.

Resultantly, according to media reports, while over 1,500 acres land was washed away in Amritsar, 1,100 in Ferozepur, 544 acres in Gurdaspur, 539 acres in Nawanshahr, 376 acres in Kapurthala, 264 acres in Ludhiana, 244 acres in Fazilka and 208 acres in Mohali were washed away in the devastating floods.

The reports also said that total crop area affected by silt which came along with the flash floods across the state was over 85,800 acres with Ferozepur being the worst hit with over 25,273 acres of land covered under silt, followed by Tarn Taran, about 25,200 acres.

According to the preliminary reports, out of the total 5 lakh acres of farm lands hit due to the floods, crops on over 2.9 lakh acres had been completely damaged.

Chief minister Bhagwant Mann had assured in his address on the concluding day of the two-day special session of assembly on September 30, that the government will start disbursing relief to affected people before Diwali, though so far, a negligible amount has been disbursed. The assembly had also passed a resolution seeking a Rs 20,000 crore special package from the Central government and Mann had also met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in this context.

It may be recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a financial assistance of Rs 1,600 crore in addition to the Rs 12,000 crore already in the state’s kitty.