Punjab: Rahul Gandhi visits flood-hit areas in Amritsar

Chandigarh, Sep 15 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday visited the flood-hit areas of Amritsar and interacted with those affected by nature's fury.

He was accompanied by Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, leader of opposition in the Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa, Amritsar MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla and other party leaders.

After arriving in Amritsar, he headed to Ghonewal village in Amritsar's Ajnala and met the flood-hit people to enquire about the damage.

Ghonewal village was among several areas in Ajnala which was badly hit by floodwaters.

Gandhi sat among some flood-affected people and interacted with them.

After visiting Ghonewal village, Gandhi is scheduled to pay obeisance at the historic gurdwara Baba Budha Sahib in Ramdas area of Amritsar.

The former Congress president is also scheduled to visit flood-hit areas of Gurdaspur district.

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.

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 SUN VSD DV DV