PTI photo
CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday visited the flood-hit areas in Gurdaspur district to take stock of the situation and asked the district administration to use the state government’s helicopter for delivering relief supplies to those affected.Swollen rivers and rivulets and incessant rains have submerged many villages and low-lying areas in several districts of Punjab.During his visit to Gurdaspur, Mann interacted with residents and reviewed the ongoing relief and rescue operations.”There are many villages where people are unable to leave their homes, and some are sitting on the roofs of their homes,” Mann noted, expressing concern for families, including children, in these situations.He confirmed, “I have told the deputy commissioner that the Punjab government’s helicopter is available for whatever assistance the people need, whether it be milk, water, or rations. I can use my car.”Meanwhile, the situation remains grim in many flood-affected areas of Punjab. Local district administrations, alongside the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the Army, and state agencies, are continuing their relief and rescue efforts. The Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi rivers, as well as seasonal rivulets, have risen significantly due to heavy rainfall in their catchment areas of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, inundating large swathes of farmland and villages along their banks.Additionally, the release of surplus water from the Pong, Bhakra, and Ranjit Sagar dams has worsened the conditions for villages in several districts of Punjab.The worst-affected villages are in the Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Fazilka, Kapurthala, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Hoshiarpur and Amritsar districts.
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