“This crisis demands a bolder response. I request the government to facilitate a quick assessment of the damage and deliver a comprehensive relief package,” Gandhi wrote in his letter.
Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP and an opposition leader after visiting Flood hit areas of Punjab has urged the Prime Minister Marendra Modi. He wrote a letter to the PM stating that the amount of relief package announced is unfair as compared to the destruction caused by floods.
He criticized the authority’s decision to declare INR 1600 Crore as relief. He mentioned that the loss in the state amounts to at least INR 20,000 Crore and the relief package worth INR 1600 is grave injustice to the state.
“This crisis demands a bolder response. I request the government to facilitate a quick assessment of the damage and deliver a comprehensive relief package,” Gandhi wrote in his letter.
He said the floods have devastated the agrarian state, with over 4 lakh acres of paddy crop destroyed and more than 10 lakh animals lost. “Lakhs of people, mostly from marginalised communities, have lost their homes,” he claimed.
“The flood has also rendered vast tracts of land uncultivable in the near future. Even today, thousands of acres are submerged and villages remain cut off,” he said.
While on the visit to Flood hit areas of Punjab including Amritsar and Gurdaspur, Rahul Gandhi met the affected families. Then, he had a ground level survey of the damage to the state.
“Despite the gravity of this crisis, I witnessed the very best of humanity. Communities rallied behind those who lost everything. People opened their homes to strangers and shared whatever little they had. Their generosity, and commitment to help, often at great personal risk, was admirable.”
CM Mann on Aftermath of Floods
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann has also said the relief announced is far short of requirements. In an earlier interim report, Punjab put losses at Rs 14,000 crore, with estimates of damage across multiple departments: Rs 1,870 crore for crop loss, around Rs 780 crore loss in health infrastructure, and large sums in roads, power, animal husbandry etc.
The state has asked the Centre to release pending dues of about Rs 60,000 crore, which include compensation for revenue losses since the GST transition (Rs 49,727 crore), reduced rural development/mandi development fund grants (over Rs 8,000 crore), and cancelled rural road (PMGSY) projects worth Rs 828 crore, as per media reports.
Health infrastructure alone has suffered losses of approximately Rs 780 crore, including damage to nearly 1,280 dispensaries, health and wellness centres, 101 community health centres, 31 sub-divisional hospitals, and medicine/medical equipment worth about Rs 130 crore.
