Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday sought personal intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for fixing the amount of compensation for flood ravaged regions of the State at the rate of Rs 20,000 per acre.
In this regard, Badal had written a letter to PM for revising the criteria of fixing the relief amount in regions inflicted with any natural disaster so that victims of these tragedies could be duly compensated. Badal, interacting with media persons after visiting the two flood-affected villages of Muktsar district, said that he would soon personally meet the Prime Minister to immediately take a call on this.
“Farmers of these regions are most affected as their crops, which are ready for harvest, have been either washed away or destroyed in the floods, so special attention should be paid to give solace to them,” said Badal. Badal said that he would apprise PM about the ground realities and urge him to help the peasantry of the State by fixing the compensation amount at the rate of Rs 20,000 per acre.
He said that it was the high time that the Centre should lend a helping hand to hard working and resilient farmers of the State who had played a vanguard role in making the country self-reliant in food production and were now feeling disenchanted with Centre's blatant neglect to their woes. Earlier during his address in village Fatehpur Mannia and Tappa, the CM said that in order to avert any such tragedy in the future, a complete overhaul of the drainage system of the State was on cards.
Badal said that he had asked the Drainage department to prepare a 'master plan' of all the flood affected regions before next monsoon season so that havoc due the rain water could be avoided in future.