14,200 acres in Punjab hit by floodwaters, says minister

Chandigarh, Aug 17 (IANS) With around 14,200 acres in three districts affected by floodwaters, Punjab Water Resources Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal on Sunday reviewed the situation in several flood-prone districts through telephonic conversations with Deputy Commissioners.

The minister issued instructions to ensure swift mitigation measures and safeguard lives and property.

Goyal told the media here that flood-like conditions have emerged within the land between embankments of rivers passing through Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Fazilka and Ferozepur districts due to rising water levels in rivers and breaches in temporary embankments constructed by farmers within the flood plains.

He said that around 14,200 acres across Kapurthala, Ferozepur, and Fazilka districts have been affected by floodwaters.

He specified that among the affected areas, Kapurthala district's impacted land comprises residential settlements, while the affected areas in Fazilka and Ferozepur are primarily agricultural land under cultivation.

He said both the state government and district administration are fully committed to providing all possible assistance to the affected population. Discussing the departmental surveillance management system, the minister said field operations involve continuous 24-hour monitoring by four Superintending Engineers (SEs), 10 Executive Engineers (XENs), 20 Sub-Divisional Officers (SDOs) and 200 field staff members, including Junior Engineers.

He said the vulnerable region has been systematically divided into sectors to facilitate immediate response and intervention measures.

Goyal directed Deputy Commissioners to set up relief camps in the affected regions to provide shelter, food and medical facilities to the displaced population. He said the embankments built by the department are safe, and no water has overflowed from these embankments. Strict vigilance is being maintained round the clock over these embankments by strong roster-based teams.

The Minister also instructed the Deputy Commissioners of Tarn Taran and Ferozepur to personally monitor the Harike headworks round-the-clock in view of increased water inflow from the Sutlej and Beas rivers due to heavy rains in upper areas.

Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) state President Aman Arora has urged party workers to help people in the districts of the state affected by floods. He said the government has made proper arrangements in every district to deal with flood-like situations.

The local administration and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) are working on a war footing. At the same time, the administration is also making all necessary arrangements to fulfil the basic needs of the affected people, especially in Tarn Taran, Amritsar, Ferozepur, Fazilka, and Abohar, where many areas have been badly affected by floods, he said.

--IANS

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