PM Modi To Visit Flood-Hit Punjab On Tuesday To Review Relief Measures

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Punjab on September 9 to take stock of the flood-hit areas and review relief measures, sources said on Sunday.

Punjab is facing one of its worst floods in decades, with the Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi and several seasonal rivulets in spate due to heavy rain across north India.

The Centre has assured that Punjab "will not be left alone in this crisis" and is working on short-term, medium-term and long-term plans to help farmers recover.

During his visit, the Prime Minister is expected to focus on urgent issues like silt removal from fields, preventing the outbreak of diseases and ensuring the safe disposal of dead animals once floodwaters recede.

Officials said the Centre and the state government will work together on ground-level relief and rehabilitation.

Strengthening of embankments along the Sutlej, Beas, Ravi and Ghaggar rivers - many of which have weakened over the years due to illegal mining - is also likely to be on the Prime Minister's agenda.

Officials on Saturday said that 46 people have died due to the devastating floods in Punjab. 

The highest number of deaths has been reported from Hoshiarpur and Amritsar (seven each), followed by Pathankot (six), Barnala (five), Ludhiana and Bathinda (four each), Mansa (three), Gurdaspur, Rupnagar and SAS Nagar (two each), while one death each has been reported from Patiala, Sangrur, Fazilka and Ferozepur.

The floods have also damaged crops on 1.75 lakh hectares of land and impacted about four lakh people in 1,996 villages across 23 districts.