With a devastating flood situation gripping Punjab, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urgently seeking the release of the state’s pending dues of ₹60,000 crore. The move comes as the death toll from the floods reached 26, with an estimated 2.50 lakh people affected and over 3 lakh acres of standing crops destroyed in nearly 1,300 villages across eight districts.
In his letter, Mann highlighted that the ongoing floods are the “worst-ever” in recent history and called for immediate Central assistance. He claimed that the pending dues include a permanent revenue loss of ₹49,727 crore due to GST implementation, ₹8,000 crore from a reduction in Rural Development Fund (RDF) and Market Development Fund (MDF), and ₹828 crore from the scrapping of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).
The state continues to reel under heavy rainfall, with a red alert issued for nine districts, including Pathankot, Gurdaspur, and Hoshiarpur. Authorities remain on high alert as rivers like the Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej are in spate. The water level in the Pong Dam reached 1,391 feet, one foot above the danger mark, necessitating a controlled release of over 1 lakh cusecs of water. Similarly, Bhakra and Ranjit Sagar dams also released significant amounts of water.
In the midst of the crisis, a massive relief operation is underway. According to government sources, 14,936 people have been evacuated, and 122 relief camps are operational, housing over 6,500 people. The Indian Army, IAF, BSF, and 10 NDRF teams are actively involved in rescue and relief work.
While state Cabinet ministers are overseeing operations in flood-hit areas, opposition leaders have criticized the government’s response. Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa alleged that the administration was “lacking” and that most of the relief work was being done by volunteers from organizations like Khalsa Aid and Dera Radha Soami. The government has also sought a change in disaster relief compensation norms, urging the Centre to increase the per-acre compensation for crop loss from the current ₹6,800 to ₹50,000.