Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit receives a memorandum from Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram S Majithia and others regarding recent floods in the state, in Chandigarh on Saturday
- July 30, 2023
- Updated: 01:57 am
category Regional, chandigarh, , tags Regional, chandigarh, , DW BUREAU Chandigarh A Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) delegation on Saturday appealed to Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit to send the assessment of the damage caused by the recent floods to the Centre to avail relief for the state. Targeting the AAP government for having failed to handle the flood situation, the delegation comprising Prem Singh Chandumajra, Bikram Singh Majithia, Surjit Singh Rakhra, Daljit Singh Cheema and Sukhwinder Kumar also urged Purohit to order a judicial probe into the man-made flood crisis. Presenting its memorandum to the governor, the SAD delegation detailed now a judicial inquiry by a sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court was necessary to book those who caused unimaginable misery to lakhs of Punjabis by failing to do their duties, the party said. The delegation urged the governor to send an assessment of the damage caused by the floods to the Centre so that enhanced relief can be availed. It noted that the Punjab government failed to even get the damage assessed by the central team which would come in the way of the release of the funds to the state. The SAD delegation also urged the governor to direct the government to submit a report on the complete damage as well as relief distributed till now, including how the Rs 218 crore received from the Centre had been spent. It informed the governor that girdawari (survey to assess loss) has not been done yet and demanded that interim relief should be given at the rate of Rs 25,000 per acre to farmers whose paddy crops have been destroyed and Rs 5 lakh should be given to households whose homes had been damaged by floodwaters. The SAD delegation urged the governor to direct the government to announce a one-year moratorium on all cooperative and bank loans taken by farmers, besides waiving interest on the loans for the same period. Several districts of Punjab and Haryana were battered by the recent heavy downpour that left normal life paralysed and flooded vast tracts of residential and agricultural land. The delegation also urged the governor to declare the formation of a union by employees of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee as illegal, stop the transfer of land to Haryana for the construction of a new assembly building, withdraw the proposal to double parking rates for vehicles other than those from the Union territory in Chandigarh, channelise the Ghaggar river from Khanauri to Makror Sahib and create an elevated road between Shatrana and Shergarh village in Patiala. (editor dailyworld.in)