Punjab: SAD, Cong slam AAP govt as overflowing rivers inundate several villages

Chandigarh, Aug 18 (PTI) The Shiromani Akali Dal and the Congress on Monday accused the AAP government in Punjab of being "oblivious" to people's hardships as several villages were inundated by rivers flowing at spate, and held it responsible for "gross administrative failure".

The SAD demanded that the Bhagwant Mann government undertake flood relief measures immediately, while pointing out that villages and agricultural fields along the Beas, Sutlej and Ravi rivers were inundated.

In a statement, senior SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema said the Beas and Sutlej rivers have wreaked havoc in Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ferozepur and Fazilka districts.

In Sultanpur Lodhi and adjoining areas, more than 25 villages have been inundated, while in Mand, more than 20 villages have been flooded, he said.

Release of water from the Ujh river and the Ranjit Sagar Dam have inundated agricultural lands in Gurdaspur, the SAD leader said, adding that villages in the Dera Baba Nanak area had also been affected.

He said that the waters of the overflowing Ghaggar river also affected areas in Patiala, with flood waters entering Sardulgarh town.

Cheema said the release of water from Pong and Bhakra dams led to inundations in Hoshiarpur, Talwara and Hajipur. "The AAP government seemed oblivious to the grim situation that was unfolding in the state," he alleged and called for immediate relief measures.

Many areas have been cut off and their residents should be provided with drinking water, food, medicines and fodder for cattle, the former minister said and highlighted that stagnant water as well as disruption in power supply were leading to the rise of water-borne diseases.

"Doctors and medical personnel should be deputed to such areas immediately," he asserted.

Cheema also called for undertaking preliminary 'girdwaris' (loss assessment) and releasing ad hoc compensation to farmers for the destruction of paddy crop as well as damages for loss of milch animals and damage to houses.

Senior Congress leader and the leader of the opposition in the Punjab Assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa, attacked the AAP government, accusing it of "gross administrative failure and total negligence in the face of a growing humanitarian disaster." Bajwa slammed the government for its "shameful inaction", pointing out that incessant rains in the hilly regions, combined with the "reckless" release of excess water from dams, have submerged thousands of acres of fertile farmland.

The situation is "spiralling out of control" in Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Fazilka, Ferozepur, Gurdaspur, and Tarn Taran, where rising river levels and collapsing embankments are putting countless lives, homes, and crops at immediate risk, the Congress leader said.

"This government has utterly failed the people," Bajwa said.

"The flood-hit villagers have been left to fend for themselves. Rescue efforts are practically non-existent. Instead of taking swift, decisive action, the administration is nowhere to be seen, leaving desperate locals to fight the floodwaters on their own," Bajwa added.

The situation continues to remain grim in several villages by the Beas and Sutlej rivers in Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Fazilka, Ferozepur and Tarn Taran districts because of swollen rivers and rivulets in the wake of heavy rains in catchment areas. PTI CHS NSD NSD