IEP Chandigarh, July 12
Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management Minister Bram Shanker Jimpa today presided over a meeting with all Deputy Commissioners and senior officials of various departments and issued directions that no stone should be left unturned to help the flood victims. He said that the Punjab government has no dearth of money to deal with this natural calamity and Rs. 33.50 crore has already been released to all deputy commissioners for relief work. He said that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will soon release another amount of Rs. 71.50 crore to provide all possible help to the flood affected areas. Aprising the Deputy Commissioners about the instructions issued by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Jimpa directed that dry rations and medicines should be delivered to the flood affected people so that no one is deprived of these essential items. He said that safety of life and property of every person should be given priority at this time. He said that if any person lost his/her life during the floods, his family should be given a compensation amount of Rs. 4 lakh immediately. Addressing the Deputy Commissioners through video conferencing, the Disaster Management Minister said that the dilapidated houses should be identified and people should be taken to safe places so that no one’s life is lost. He said that in this hour of crisis, we have to reach out to everyone who is affected from floods. He said that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has already announced that it is the priority of the Punjab government to provide all kinds of assistance to the flood-affected areas. Jimpa encouraged the Deputy Commissioners to save the animals, manage their fodder and ensure the delivery of essential medicines of flood affected areas. During meeting, Jimpa directed the concerned departments to fulfill whatever demands were made by the Deputy Commissioners to deal with the floods. Some districts asked for NDRF/SDRF teams which were accepted on the spot. In the meeting, Special Chief Secretary Revenue K.A.P. Sinha, Principal Secretary of Water Supply and Sanitation Department Jaspreet Talwar, Principal Secretary of Health and Family Welfare Department Vivek Pratap Singh, Principal Secretary of Water Resources Department Krishan Kumar, Secretary of Local Government Department Ajoy Sharma, Commissioner of Jalandhar Division Gurpreet Kaur Sapra, Forest Department Secretary Indu Malhotra, Special Secretary of Revenue Department Dr. Amarpal Singh, Director of Rural Development and Panchayat Department Gurpreet Singh Khaira and Head of Water Supply and Sanitation Department Muhammad Ishfaq were present. Commissioners of different divisons of Punjab and Deputy Commissioners of districts joined the meeting through video conferencing.
