Punjab Floods: PM Modi To Visit Gurdaspur On September 9, Assure Support To Affected Families

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Gurdaspur district in Punjab on September 9, to meet families affected by flooding and monitor relief efforts. The BJP Punjab unit tweeted the visit announcement, noting the Prime Minister will meet farmers, migrant residents and affected families. The announcement noted that the visit is an indication of the Centre’s commitment to stand by people of Punjab during the crisis. 

“This Prime Minister’s visit states that the central BJP government is always going to stand with the people of Punjab and will do everything they can in this challenging period,” said in the tweet. Modi will also assess conditions on the ground in other northern states, like Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttarakhand, that have also suffered destruction from heavy rainfall following months of perennial rains.

Punjab has experienced one of its worst monsoon seasons and the impact is immense. Official data indicate that currently 1,996 villages across 22 districts have been affected so far, displacing thousands of families and affecting set crops on approximately 1.71 lakh hectares. Hardeep Singh Mundian, the Punjab Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management Minister, mentioned that there had been at least 46 deaths in the state due to the floods and that 3 more people are missing in Pathankot district. 

In the past 24 hours, there have been 48 more new affected villages, and crop loss on 2,131 hectares of land. As the situation continues to develop, the authorities advanced their relief and evacuation efforts. 925 people were evacuated in one day for a total of 22,854 evacuees. So far, there have only been 3,872 displaced people at risk based on monsoon flooding since the beginning of flooding. A total of over 3.87 lakh people have been affected from the flooding in states with Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Ferozepur, Hoshiarpur, and Fazilka districts continuing to record high water levels while rural and urban recovery from flooding continues. 

The Prime Minister’s visit may certainly convey the symbolic notion of expressing solidarity with flood victims but may also lead to more serious central packages, which are deeply needed to restore some essential lost, infrastructure, farmers compensation, and rehabilitation of one of India’s most critical agricultural states.

ALSO READ: Punjab Flood Update: Punjab Floods: Death Toll Reaches 46, Rescue And Relief Operations Continue