Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said that the ignorance of the Congress led UPA government towards the ground realities faced by the sufferers of natural tragedy have further accentuated the woes of the flood victims in the state.
Addressing the gathering during his visit to the flood affected water logged areas of the district here today, the Chief Minister said that he had raised the issue of relief and rehabilitation of the victims of flood affected areas with the top brass of the Centre but of no avail. Mr. Badal said that he had personally called on the Union Home Minister Mr. Sushil Kumar Shinde for enhancing the relief amount to be disbursed amongst the farmers for their damaged crop. However he said that as the Congress leaders were unaware about the ground situation so they were hardly paying any heed towards their demand due to which the flood victims were being suffering.
The Chief Minister said that state government was solidly with the victims of the floods and they want to extend a helping hand to them by giving adequate financial assistance as compensation for their massive loss. However he said that the riders imposed by the Union government barred them from helping the flood victims due to which the situation has further aggrieved. The Union government must adopt liberal approach for duly compensating the flood victims in this hour of crisis, he added.The Chief Minister further said that due to the persistent efforts of the state government the Members of 14th Finance Commission had visited the flood affected regions and now a team of the Planning Commission of India (PCI) would soon come in the area to assess the loss caused due to floods. He said that first hand information regarding the entire damage caused due to floods and hardships faced by people could only be acquired by visiting the areas due to which this team was coming to state. Mr. Badal expressed hope that these teams would certainly help in tackling the menace of water logging in the area which has shattered the economy of the entire region.
Assuring the flood victims that no stone would be left unturned for their relief and rehabilitation, the Chief Minister said that the entire master plan regarding the reconstruction of damaged installations and public properties besides measures to tackle water logging in the area would be unveiled within a month. He said that the Headquarters of the key departments involved in this herculean task has been provisionally shifted to Sri Muktsar Sahib so as to ensure the relief works effectively. Mr. Badal said that the state government was minutely examining all the aspects of this grave natural tragedy and immediate action was being taken to give relief to the people besides formulating long term strategy to deal with the problem of water logging.Exhorting the people to play a proactive role in reconstruction of the flood ravaged region, the Chief Minister said that this gigantic task could not be accomplished without their active support and co-operation. He said that survey was being conducted by the state government to assess the damage caused due to floods and the process of reconstructing the roads and other public installations would be started afterwards.