SAD urges guv to order judicial probe into ‘man-made’ flood crisis in Punjab

A Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) delegation on Saturday urged Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit to order a judicial probe into the “man-made” flood crisis in Punjab

Chandigarh : A Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) delegation on Saturday urged Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit to order a judicial probe into the “man-made” flood crisis in Punjab.

A Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) delegation on Saturday urged Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit to order a judicial probe into the “man-made” flood crisis in Punjab.

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 send the assessment of the damage caused by the recent floods to the Centre to avail relief for the state.

Presenting a 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.

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 ₹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 ₹25,000 per acre to farmers whose paddy crops have been destroyed and ₹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.

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 Chandigarh, channelise the Ghaggar river from Khanauri to Makror Sahib and create an elevated road between Shatrana and Shergarh village in Patiala.