Badal seeks Rs.20,000 per acre relief for flood damage

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal Monday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to send a central team to assess damage due to floods and sought that relief amount be enhanced to Rs.20,000 per acre.

Seeking the personal intervention of the prime minister, Badal, in a letter, urged for change in the prevalent norms of relief for crops damaged in floods, contending it should be enhanced to at least Rs.20,000 per acre in case of complete loss of crops.

He also wrote separate letters to union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde in this regard.

Badal said that majpor devastation was caused to crops in many areas of Punjab due to heavy rainfall for three-to four days after Aug 15.

"These not only necessitated releases from the Bhakra, Ranjit Sagar and Pong dam reservoirs, but also caused many drains to overflow, since their water could not flow into the rivers that were already in spate," Badal noted.