Punjab seeks norms relaxation to assist flood-hit

Chandigarh, Aug 10 (IANS) Punjab Chief Secretary Anurag Verma on Thursday requested the Central team to give relaxation in norms of assistance to victims to compensate them for the damage caused by floods.

He said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has already written a letter to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, saying there is no shortfall in the state disaster relief funds to compensate the victims, and only a change in the norms for compensating the damage is required so that the loss of people can be fully compensated.

Punjab has demanded to increase the compensation amount for the loss of life and property.

The seven-member Inter-Ministerial Central team is on a visit to the state to make a ground-level assessment of the damage caused by the floods due to heavy rains in Punjab and hilly areas. After visiting various districts, the Central team held a meeting with the Chief Secretary here.

During the meeting, after a presentation of department-wise flood damage, the Chief Secretary submitted a detailed report to them. Verma said in the letter written by the Chief Minister the amount of compensation given to the victims has been demanded to be almost doubled, just like the amount of compensation given to the family of the deceased has been increased from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 8 lakh.

The demand for damaged crops has been increased from Rs 17,000 to Rs 34,000, for milch animals from Rs 37,500 to Rs 75,000, and for damaged houses from Rs 1,20,000 to Rs. 2.40 lakh.

During the meeting, the National Disaster Management Authority's Financial Advisor Ravinish Kumar, who is leading the team, said they visited many states and after Himachal Pradesh, Punjab suffered the most damage.

Another member of the team came from ISRO. Head of Flood Mapping A.V. Suresh Babu said it is also clear through the satellite images that the heavy rain has caused a lot of damage in Punjab and many areas have come under heavy floods.

Giving details of the damage caused due to floods, the Chief Secretary said a loss of Rs 1,320.59 crore has been incurred.