Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday sought intervention of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for approving Rs 3,277.57 crore master plan to “permanently” eliminate the problem of waterlogging in the State and subsequently release grants for undertaking the required project work.
In a letter to the PM, Badal reiterated that unless immediate steps were taken for the implementation of the master plan, vast areas of Punjab would turn into barren waste land thereby depriving a large population from their primary source of agriculture income and it would be nothing less than a human catastrophe.
Punjab Vidhan Sabha, in its recently concluded winter session, had passed a unanimous resolution strongly recommending to the Central Government for finding an appropriate permanent solution to the waterlogging problem. Giving details of the sequence of events, the Chief Minister said that in the aftermath of unprecedented rains this monsoon, the problem aggravated manifold.
“Chairman and the Members of the 14th Finance Commission visited the severely waterlogged areas of Sri Muktsar Sahib and subsequently a committee headed by CEO of the Rainfed Authority of India Dr JS Samra also visited the affected areas to take stock of the gravity of situation. An expert’s group headed by his Technical advisor Major General (retd) BS Dhaliwal submitted a master plan amounting to Rs 3,277.57 crore as permanent solution to the persistent problem of waterlogging,” he stated.
“I, along with the leader of Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha Sunil Jakhar, jointly gave a presentation before the Planning Commission’s deputy chairman Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia who in principle agreed to the report…I accompanied by Jakhar had also personally apprised you about the gravity of situation during your last visit to Chandigarh in Punjab Raj Bhawan,” he added.