Food processing cos responded generously to appeal for donation of dry ration: Harsimrat

Union Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Wednesday said food processing companies have responded generously to her appeal to donate dry ration for flood hit people of Punjab and the same would be distributed among the affected people in the coming days.

In a statement here, the Union Minister thanked food companies for the noble gesture and appealed to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) workers as well as volunteers at large to assist her in distribution of the relief material.

She also urged people to assist her in identifying the worst affected places so that relief work could be prioritised accordingly.

"Volunteers can share such locations with me," she said, adding that she would personally supervise the distribution of the relief material in the next few days.

Badal said she had received widespread complaints that thousands of acres of paddy crop has been destroyed and houses have been damaged in entire villages in parts of Rupnagar and Anandpur Sahib, Sultanpur Lodhi, Shahkot and Phillaur, but appropriate relief had not reached the affected people.

"Keeping in view this sentiment, I approached several food processing companies and they have donated dry ration including milk powder, biscuits, ready to eat snacks as well as one lakh litres of beverages and bottled water. The relief will be dispatched in trucks to the worst affected areas in the coming days," she added.

Following the recent heavy rains and release of excess water from Bhakra Dam, swollen Sutlej river and its tributaries had inundated villages in several areas in Punjab and Haryana, causing extensive damage to crops, especially paddy and homes in low-lying areas.