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Warring slams Centre, Punjab govt for failing flood-hit state
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Wednesday accused both the central and state governments of completely failing the people of Punjab during the recent floods, which caused widespread destruction estimated at thousands of crores of rupees
CHANDIGARH: Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Wednesday accused both the central and state governments of completely failing the people of Punjab during the recent floods, which caused widespread destruction estimated at thousands of crores of rupees.
Addressing a press conference, Warring said that while chief minister Bhagwant Mann was hospitalised during the crisis, the rest of the state government was virtually missing in action.
“It was a complete failure and incompetence of the chief minister and his government. They failed the people before the crisis, during the crisis and even now after the crisis,” Warring said.
He criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ₹1,600 crore flood relief package, calling it inadequate compared to the massive losses suffered in Punjab. He also dismissed the PM’s mention of a ₹12,000 crore disaster relief fund as misleading, saying it was a routine allocation to all states and not a special grant.
Warring alleged that the Punjab government had already exhausted its share of the disaster relief fund, using it for other expenses such as salaries, leaving nothing for actual disaster management.
“By clubbing the routine disaster relief fund with the ₹1,600 crore relief, the Prime Minister tried to deflect attention from the inadequacy of the aid,” he added.
Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa also criticised the relief package, saying it accounted for only 8% of the estimated total loss caused by the floods in Punjab.
Warring further claimed the floods were largely a “man-made disaster”, blaming the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) for poor water regulation. He alleged that the BBMB released water from the dam only after the level had dangerously risen to 1,678 feet, and did so quietly without informing relevant authorities or the public.
“Had the water been released gradually in anticipation of the forecasted heavy rains, the damage would have been just 25% of what we witnessed,” he said.
Warring said the Congress had mobilised teams across flood-hit areas, down to the block level, to remain on the ground until normalcy returns. He expressed concern over the delay in wheat sowing due to water-logged fields and promised that the party would extend all possible help to affected farmers.
