Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has approved the release of Rs. 40 crores to the Drainage Department for preventive flood control measures, while ordering Special Girdawari to assess crop damage resulting from natural calamities.Disclosing this here, a spokesperson of the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said all the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) in the state had been asked to immediately get the Special Girdawari conducted to assess the damage to crops on account of natural calamities, such as unseasonal rains, hailstorms, canal breaches and gale-force winds etc.The DCs had also been asked to set up around-the-clock Control Rooms in their respective districts in view of the imminent monsoon rains and possible flooding of rivers and drains. Additionally, teams of the Revenue Department as well as the Irrigation/Drainage Departments were maintaining vigil along the vulnerable stretches of the rivers, said the spokesperson.The Rs. 40 crore allocation to the Drainage Department will go towards preventive and pre-emptive action to strengthen the flood protection works in the sensitive stretches, the spokesperson added.
The spokesperson further said that sufficient budgetary provisions had been made by the Revenue Department for the State Disaster Management Fund to tackle any eventuality.