Punjab: Sond told Shivraj, leave politics, ensure help

Punjab: Rural Development Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond on Saturday accused Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of focusing on “fault finding” instead of using his influence to provide relief to the state amid its worst floods in decades. Addressing reporters here, the minister said instead of blaming each other, it was time to “rise above politics and help people who are going through a tough time”. He said this a day after Shivraj Chouhan blamed illegal mining for the floods. Sond also questioned why the Centre has not provided financial help to the state so far to deal with the situation.

Responding to a question about the devastation caused by poor maintenance of drains in Fazilka, Sond said the work was done on time but his government would investigate the frequent breaches and overflowing of drains. The minister said 70 villages and 40 settlements with a population of over 24,930 have been badly affected due to the floods. According to preliminary reports, 123 km of road network in the villages has been destroyed. Besides, 6,185 houses and 17 government buildings have been affected and one person has lost his life. Meanwhile, sources said that the water level in Fazilka has started receding. About 3.33 lakh cusecs of water was released from Hussainiwala headworks on Thursday, which reduced to 2.70 lakh cusecs this morning.