Chandigarh, Sep 4 (IANS) To effectively monitor the rescue and relief operations in flood-affected villages across the state, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday directed that a gazetted officer be deployed in every marooned village to supervise the process.

The Chief Minister said to ensure direct communication between the administration and the people, a gazetted officer will be sent to each village. He said this will enable people affected by the natural disaster to share all kinds of problems with them and ensure a prompt and appropriate solution.

Mann said around 1,698 villages in 23 districts have been inundated due to floods, affecting more than 3.80 lakh people in the state.

The Chief Minister said massive relief and rescue operations are already going on to ensure that people do not face any sort of problem, and the government is committed to the well-being of the people in these testing times.

The government has already ordered a special ‘girdawari’ to ascertain the loss incurred by people due to floods in the state, he said, adding that the officers have been directed to ensure that the special ‘girdawari’ is done in a fair manner so that people are duly compensated for their loss.

Mann assured the people that his government would compensate them for every loss.

Meanwhile, all Cabinet ministers are reaching out to various villages and flood-affected areas to provide relief materials and assistance. They visited vulnerable areas to strengthen the embankment of the rivers.

Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema called upon the Centre to demonstrate the same humanitarian spirit towards Punjab as it has shown in extending aid to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. He questioned the Union government’s priorities, asking why relief materials were swiftly dispatched to Afghanistan, while flood-affected Punjab is facing delays in receiving financial and humanitarian assistance.

–IANS

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