SAD gives 500 fogging machines for flood-hit areas of Punjab

Chandigarh, Sep 24 (PTI) Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday flagged off a cavalcade of vehicles containing 500 fogging machines for the flood-affected people in Punjab.

The machines will be delivered to the Youth Akali Dal (YAD) workers in the flood-affected areas of the state to conduct fogging against malaria and other water-borne diseases.

The SAD president said YAD volunteers would take these machines to every flood-affected village in the state.

Earlier, Badal presided over a meeting with the constituency in-charge and district presidents of the party to chart out a comprehensive flood relief distribution plan.

The meeting also took note of the damage done by the floods to 'bundhs' (embankments), agricultural land and houses, besides the loss of livestock.

He said the flood relief operation, which was already underway with 500 trucks of maize silage being delivered to Gurdaspur, Ferozepur and Amritsar and other affected districts, would witness the start of distribution of wheat to 50,000 poor people in the flood-affected areas in the coming days.

Badal said party observers had visited the flood-affected areas and had categorised those which had witnessed the most destruction.

"It is our endeavour to reach these people first and provide them all assistance to stand back on their feet," he said, adding that all affected areas would be covered in phases.

Badal said that as part of this exercise, it was decided that besides the distribution of maize silage, certified wheat seed would be distributed among flood-hit farmers to cover one lakh acres of land.

He said the party had also prepared a plan for dispatching tractors and other heavy machinery in batches to flood-hit areas to remove sand from agricultural fields.

He said party volunteers would also assist the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) in holding medical camps even as it would hold veterinary camps for treatment of livestock.

Exhorting the party leaders to assist the flood hit, Badal took note of the requirements of diesel, poclain machines and iron meshes in the worst-affected villages.

He said all material needed would be dispatched to affected areas immediately. PTI CHS MNK MNK