Chief Secretary reviews the relief works and rehabilitation works in flood affected areas

Instructs DCs to distribute compensation for death cases by 20th July and for damaged houses by 24th July

Chandigarh, July 17:

          To take stock of the current situation in the flood-affected areas of the state and to take stock of the ongoing relief and rehabilitation works, Punjab Chief Secretary Anurag Verma on Monday held a high level meeting with concerned administrative Secretaries and all Deputy Commissioners.

          Anurag Verma said that following the instructions of the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to normalize the situation in the flood affected areas and provide all kinds of relief to the affected people, instructions have been given to the Deputy Commissioners so that the lives of the affected people get back on track. It should be ensured to pay the compensation amount to the next of Kin of the people killed due to floods by July 20 and that of the damaged houses should also be handed over to the victims by July 24.

          The Chief Secretary further said that the Chief Minister has been released Rs. 10 Cr from the disaster fund to provide clean drinking water to the people. The drinking water should be protected from contamination and in this regard, the concerned authorities should give a certificate within two days that there is no defect in the water pipeline anywhere and the drinking water is completely clean. The negligence in this case will not be tolerated as the health of the People's is the top priority of the government. Similarly, Rs. 50 lakh have been released to the health department for chlorine medicines. The health department has been directed to make full preparations to combat water-borne diseases. Similarly, Rs. 40 lakh has been released to the districts by the animal husbandry department to protect the livestock from diseases.

          Mr. Anurag Verma said that instructions have been given to the Water Resources Department that wherever there are breaches in the rivers, and canals, they should be plugged on a war footing. The water resources, public works, marketing board, water supply and sanitation departments along with the deputy commissioners should assess the damage to infrastructure caused by floods and submit a report. He said that in this regard clear instructions have been issued by the Chief Minister that during the restoration of the structure, it should be ensured that there is no damage in the event of rising level of water in the future, and the damage caused by floods should be avoided.

          In the meeting, the Chief Secretary took stock of the situation from the Deputy Commissioners of the flood-affected districts and asked about the assistance to be provided to them. The situation was under control. It was also told that now only two teams of NDRF are deployed in the state. One is in Mansa and the other is in Sangrur. Relief camps and food have been arranged for the affected people. He also directed to take stock of crop damage.

          The meeting was attended by Special Chief Secretary Revenue and Development KAP Sinha, Principal Secretary Animal Husbandry Vikas Pratap, Principal Secretary Water Supply and Sanitation DK Tiwari, Principal Secretary Power Tejveer Singh, Principal Secretary Health and Family Welfare VP Singh, Principal Secretary Water Resources Krishan Kumar, Principal Secretary PWD Nilkanth S. Avhad, Secretary Food and Civil Supplies Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, Director Local Government Uma Shankar Gupta, Vice Chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana Dr. Satbir Singh Gosal, Western Command Representative Adviser Civil Military Affairs Colonel JS Sandhu and NDRF Commandant Santosh Kumar.