Punjab Water Resources Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal said that Punjab Government was fully prepared in view of monsoon season as well as putting the requisite arrangements in place to tackle any exigency. Along with senior officials, the Minister visited Pong dam to take stock of water inflow, where he pointed out that preparedness had been made of rainy season.
He mentioned that the water level was 1322’ in the dam which was recorded 1326 on this day last year, which is six feet down. He said that the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann-led Punjab Government would duty bound to protecting the people of Punjab from any flood-related exigency during the monsoon season as a robust monitoring and response mechanism had already been put in place.
He reiterated that the safety of human lives, agricultural land and public infrastructure across the state was on top priority in upcoming rainy season. The Minister said that he was in Doaba region for the last two days to assess the preparations at various sites where works were either in progress or had been completed.
He said that detailed discussions were also held with the officials to take ground report and the action to be taken in coming days. The Minister undertook a detailed review of flood protection and drainage management works being carried out across the region, including drain cleaning, boulder stone and hybrid protection works, raising and strengthening of embankments, operation of flood control gates and other flood mitigation measures at vulnerable locations.
He directed officers to keep all critical flood-prone sites under constant surveillance and ensure continuous monitoring of rivers, drains, embankments and flood protection structures. He also instructed officers to take immediate corrective measures wherever any vulnerability is noticed so that people do not face inconvenience during the monsoon.
He directed officers to ensure timely completion of all desilting works ahead of the peak monsoon period to facilitate smooth drainage and prevent waterlogging during heavy rainfall. In Punjab, Rs.450 crore had been incurred on protection works including 101 boulder and hybrid protection works, 17 embankment raising works, 22 embankment strengthening works, 188 drain cleaning works and five flood control gate operation works, he added.
Directing all field officers to remain on high alert throughout the monsoon season, the Cabinet Minister instructed them to maintain round-the-clock vigil at flood-sensiti
ve locations and ensure swift response to every emergency.