Even as Punjab has pegged its initial losses at Rs 1,700 crore due to recent incessant rains and demanded Rs 1,000 crore special package from the Centre, the BJP-led Central Government has virtually ignored this border state while initiating steps to assist the flood-hit states.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has decided to immediately constitute and depute the Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) to Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Bihar, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Kerala affected by recent floods, while keeping Punjab out of the same.
The decision was taken during the meeting, chaired by the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on Wednesday — only a day after the Centre had ordered to send the rescue and relief assistance to Punjab along with the rest of the flood-hit states.
Notably, the State Government had estimated the initial loss by the floods in some parts of state at Rs 1,700 crore, including an estimated crop loss of Rs 750 crore.
The Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday made it clear that the State Government would ensure full support to every person affected by the flooding even if the Central Government fails to extend support.
It has been learnt that the directions have been issued to the officials concerned to prepare a memorandum for receiving special packages from the Central Government.
According to the official report, as many as 326 villages across the state were affected by the floods, and 1.20 lakh acre has been inundated.
Even as the State Government is yet to order the girdwari (crop assessment), which would be conducted after the water level recedes, the preliminary crop loss has been estimated at Rs 750 crore. Approximately, about 1,000 acres of agriculture land has been affected by the floods in about 150 villages.
Besides, the Government has attributed Rs 200 crore loss to the rural infrastructure including damage to the schools, dispensaries, veterinary dispensaries, streets and drains at Rs 200 crore, Rs 150 crore to repair irrigation infrastructure, Rs 150 crore for repairing the damaged village link roads, Rs 100 crore each for repairing the damages to the highways and bridges, along with municipal and civic infrastructure and power infrastructure.
Preliminary loss to private electric tubewells, and diesel pump sets, besides rural water supply has been estimated to be Rs 50 crore each, besides Rs 50 crore to other expenditure.
Already, the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had announced Rs 100 crore for emergency relief and rehabilitation measures.
In addition, he has written to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide the state a special package of Rs 1000 crore to address the losses resulting from the flooding.
Declaring the rains as “unprecedented”, the Chief Minister had already declared the prevailing flood situation in the affected villages of the state as a “natural calamity”. Capt Amarinder had noted that a large number of crops have been destroyed in more than 100 villages especially in Ropar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts, due to heavy rains leading to overflowing of Sutlej river.
During the high-level meeting on Wednesday, the Union Home Minister Shah had decided that the IMCT will, from now on, be constituted immediately in the aftermath of any natural calamity of severe nature, which will visit the affected areas in the state so as to have first-hand assessment of damages caused and relief work carried out by the state administration.
The IMCT will again visit the state after submission of the memorandum for a detailed assessment of the damage and relief operations conducted for making final recommendations for allocation of additional funds. As of now, the IMCT visits the affected state only once after the receipt of a memorandum from the state.
