Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has demanded the immediate inclusion of his State among those identified for on-the-spot assessment of flood situation by an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT).
The Centre has listed 11 States that the IMCT will assess for flood damage, but Punjab does not find mention in it even though it has witnessed large-scale flooding in many areas following unprecedented rain, read an official statement.
The Chief Minister expressed surprise over Punjab’s non-inclusion and has urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to immediately rectify the situation.
“Surprised on the exclusion of Punjab from the list of States to be visited by the Inter-Ministerial Central Team to assess losses in flood-affected areas in different States. Request HM @AmitShah ji to direct the Central Team to visit Punjab to assess the huge losses [sic.] ,” Capt. Amarinder tweeted.
The IMCT was constituted by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in pursuance of a decision taken at a high- level committee meeting on August 19. The committee had decided to break away from the past practice of waiting for the affected State to submit a memorandum seeking central assessment.
The IMCT has been mandated to visit the flood-affected States of Meghalaya, Assam, Tripura, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Kerala, for making final recommendations to the Central government for allocation of flood assistance to the flood-ravaged States, according to the statement.
Capt. Amarinder pointed out that he had already written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek a special flood relief package of ₹1,000 crore to address losses resulting from floods in Punjab.
As per initial calculations, it is estimated that the State has suffered damage worth ₹1,700 crore due to the floods.
