Punjab floods: CM urges PM to release Rs 60,000 crore

Punjab is under the grip of massive floods, caused by the swollen Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers and seasonal rivulets due to heavy rain in their catchment areas in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

In his letter, Mann said that Punjab is currently grappling with one of the worst flood disasters in decades, impacting about 1,000 villages.

The CM said that heavy rain, coupled with the release of waters from dams, have caused extensive flooding in seven districts — Gurdaspur, Kapurthala, Amritsar, Pathankot, Ferozepur, Fazilka and Hoshiarpur.

Mann said that at present, about 3 lakh acres of farmland, primarily paddy fields, remain submerged under floodwater, leading to devastating crop losses just weeks before harvest.

Mann also apprised the PM that permanent loss of revenue on account of implementation of GST and transition from VAT Regime is `49,727 crore for which no compensation has been provided by the Centre.

The CM said that reduction of Rural Development Fund (RDF), and Market Development Fund (MDF) in past few years has ballooned to over `8,000 crore adding that recently the Centre has also scrapped projects in Punjab worth `828 crore.

He added that this can adversely impact the state’s rural connectivity in long-run.

Mann said that while substantial funds are available in the SDRF, the existing norms prescribed under the guidelines of the MHA remain grossly inadequate to compensate farmers, livestock owners, and vulnerable communities for the scale of their losses.