Warring asks AAP govt to provide details about Rs 12,000 crore of disaster relief fund

Chandigarh, Sep 10 (PTI) Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring Wednesday demanded that the AAP government provide details of the Rs 12,000 crore that should be available with the state for disaster relief, asking if it had been used for other purposes.

He also said Rs 1,600 crore financial assistance announced by the prime minister on Tuesday was nothing as compared to the great losses caused in the state.

Referring to the Rs 12,000 crore that should be with the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF), Warring said the Punjab government was not left with "even a penny from this fund" as it had apparently diverted it to some other heads, such as paying of salaries to its staff since it had gone almost "bankrupt".

"The Punjab government does not have a single penny of it. This money is only in papers. They must have used it (funds) somewhere else," he said.

"The government should share details about the funds that where these have been used," he said.

Warring said that by trying to club the Rs 12,000 amount with the Rs 1,600 crore relief he announced, the prime minister had tried to wriggle out of the situation as he also knew that the relief he was providing to Punjab was too little and too less.

He also said that both the Centre and the state governments had "badly let down" the people of the state during the devastating natural calamity that has caused devastation worth thousands of crore of rupees.

Warring said while the Chief Minister was hospitalized, the rest of the state government had simply "vanished" at the time of crisis.

"It was the complete failure and incompetence of the Chief Minister as well as his government, both of whom failed the people, when they needed them the most", he claimed, while stating, "they failed the people before the crisis, during the crisis and after the crisis even till now".

Referring to the Prime Minister's Rs 1,600 crore financial assistance for Punjab, he reiterated this was nothing as compared to the great losses caused in the state.

Leader of Opposition in the Punjab assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa said that the Rs 1,600 crore that Prime Minister Modi announced as relief was mere 8 per cent of the total estimated loss faced by Punjab due to the flood devastation.

Reiterating his charge that the floods in Punjab were a "man-made disaster", Warring alleged that the Bhakra Beas Management Board released the water quietly when the level had risen to 1,678 feet.

He said if the water had been regulated in the dam properly keeping in view the past history and the weather forecast, the damage in Punjab would have been just about 25 percent of what happened now.

He said since there was a forecast of about 105 percent of rains, above normal, the water in the dam could have been released gradually in a phased manner well in advance.

"Why did they need to wait for the water level to rise to 1,678 feet and then release it quietly without informing anyone?" he asked, while substantiating his charge that it was a man-made disaster.

The PCC president saluted the courage and the spirit of the Punjabis in fighting against this natural calamity. He said while the government was not seen anywhere, various NGOs, sportspersons, singers and others took the lead to help and support people. PTI CHS SKY SKY