Cong leader Rahul Gandhi to visit flood-hit Punjab on Monday

Chandigarh, Sep 14 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday will visit the flood-ravaged areas in Punjab on Monday, party sources said.

During a day-long visit, Gandhi will be visiting flood-affected areas in Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts, the sources said on Sunday.

Gandhi, who is the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, will also be meeting the flood-affected families during his visit to the state, which is battling its worst deluge since 1988.

Punjab faced one of its worst flood disasters in decades. The floods were a result of swollen Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi rivers along with seasonal rivulets caused by heavy rainfall in their catchment areas in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

Besides, heavy rains in Punjab had also intensified the flooding situation.

The death toll because of the floods presently stands at 56 while crops on 1.98 lakh hectares were damaged.

On September 9, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had reviewed the flood situation and damage in Punjab after conducting an aerial survey of the flood-ravaged areas during his visit.

He had announced a financial assistance of Rs 1,600 crore for the flood-hit state in addition to the Rs 12,000 crore already in the state's kitty.

Modi had also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the seriously injured in the floods and natural calamity.

Earlier, Union Ministers including Shivraj Singh Chouhan, L Murugan and B L Verma visited the flood-affected areas to take stock of the situation. PTI CHS NB NB