Punjab governor visits flood-hit Ferozepur

Ferozepur, Sep 2 (PTI) Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria on Tuesday visited the flood-hit border district of Ferozepur and supported the local farmers' demand for permanent ownership rights of land to enable them to get crop loss compensation and benefits of government schemes.

This matter will be brought to the attention of the chief minister and efforts will be made to resolve it permanently, he said.

Kataria was speaking to the media after meeting people at a relief centre set up in a school in Bare Ke village here. He was accompanied by Ferozepur City MLA Ranbir Singh Bhullar, Ferozepur Division Commissioner Arun Shekhri, Deputy Commissioner Deepshikha Sharma and Senior Superintendent of Police Bhupinder Singh.

Prior to visiting the relief centre, the governor paid homage to the martyrs at the Hussainiwala Memorial.

Kataria said more than 250 flood victims have been accommodated safely at the relief centre.

The affected people informed him that they and their families have been cultivating these lands for the last 70 years. Earlier, the 'girdawari' (land cultivation record) was in their name. However, since their names were removed from government records, they have been deprived of compensation and benefits of government schemes.

They further pointed out that they suffer due to floods every year and whenever there is a threat of war, they have to leave their homes and move to safer places.

After hearing their problems, Kataria said these people face a double blow every year and hence a permanent solution to their issues is necessary.

To ensure this, he said, he would meet the CM and bring the matter to his attention for resolution.

The governor said these people have been cultivating land along the border and they could be given residential plots with ownership rights at safe locations so that they do not have to abandon their homes during floods or times of war.

He said that whenever water is released from headworks or dams, arrangements must be made to move these people to safer places during the time it takes for the water to reach their area.

Earlier, Kataria visited the headworks to review the water level.

Kataria is on a three-day visit to the flood-hit districts of Punjab.

He will visit Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Pathankot on September 3, and Hoshiarpur and Sri Anandpur Sahib on September 4. PTI COR CHS DIV DIV