Centre agrees to declare Punjab ‘severely flooded’, enhanced funds on the cards

While the compensation for crop loss would not be affected, the owners of houses damaged in floods would be benefited. “For instance, under the norms of State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF), a house owner gets Rs 1.20 lakh, if a house is damaged completely. Now, the compensation can go as high as Rs 3 lakh,” said an official. For crop loss, the state government has announced Rs 20,000 per acre compensation, as against the provision of Rs 6,800 per acre under the SDRF.

The state government will hold a meeting on Friday, to be chaired by Chief Secretary KAP Sinha to decide the heads under which they would be seeking more funds. Sources said that this decision needs to be taken as the state government will have to increase its share of matching grant. Centre and state share the funds in the ratio of 75:25.

“…The final memorandum of damages and demand for fund will also be prepared,”’said an official, adding that the Punjab government had written to the Centre last week seeking that the state be declared severely flooded. “The Centre has acknowledged the widespread devastation caused by unprecedented rain and flooding. The enhanced allocation and loan would provide crucial support for immediate reconstruction efforts.”

According to an interim memorandum submitted to the Central disaster committee on September 7, the state had pegged its flood-related losses at Rs 13,289 crore.

It included damages worth Rs 1,520 crore reported by the Water Resources Department, the Department of Rural Development and Panchayats (Rs 5,043 crore), and the Department of Health (Rs 780 crore). Punjab Mandi Board (Rs 1,022 crore), PWD (Rs 1,970 crore), Agriculture Department (Rs 317 crore), Department of Education (Rs 542 crore), Department of Power (Rs 103 crore) and Department of Animal Husbandry (Rs 103 crore), too among others, reported losses.