PM Modi to visit Punjab, Himachal on Sept 9 to take stock situations

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Punjab and Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday to take stock of the situation of monsoon fury that left a trail of widespread destruction in both northern statesResponding to the visit Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar on Sunday said Prime Minister Modi ldquois deeply concerned about the flood situation in Punjab and is closely monitoring itrdquoLikewise Himachal Pradeshs Leader of Opposition and former chief minister Jairam Thakur told the media that he would be going to Dharamsala on September 9 for the meeting of Prime Minister Modi to assess the loss in the state during the monsoonThe death toll in the state during the monsoon exceeded 350He said he would apprise the Prime Minister about the loss and damage in areas wherever they have visitedPunjab BJP chief Jakhar said ldquoHe Modi is visiting Punjab on September 9 to personally assess the local conditions and understand the ground realities to provide maximum assistance to the people of PunjabrdquoEarlier Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was sent to evaluate the situationldquoTwo Central government teams which visited to assess the damage caused by the floods in Punjab are set to submit their reports to the central government after their tour The Government of India stands firmly with the people of Punjab Jakhar wrote on XIt has been learnt that the Prime Minister after casting his vote in the September 9 vicepresidential election in Delhi is likely to land at Amritsar on Tuesday afternoon and there he will hold a review meeting with state ministers and officialsLater he will visit the nearby hill state of Himachal PradeshThe Punjab government has estimated a loss of Rs 13289 crore due to the floods The figure was presented by the government to members of two Central interministerial teams that have been touring the state to assess the damagePunjab Revenue Minister Hardeep Singh Mundian said 1996 villages across 22 districts have been impacted affecting a population of 387013A total of 22854 people have been rescued The highest number of evacuations has been carried out in Gurdaspur district 5581 followed by Fazilka 4202 Ferozepur 3888 Amritsar 3260 Hoshiarpur 1616 Pathankot 1139 and Kapurthala 1428Meanwhile two teams of the Union Home Ministry arrived in Himachal Pradesh to study the damage in Chamba and Kullu districts that faced severe devastation caused by incessant rainfall which has claimed lives and caused extensive damage to infrastructure and agricultureBoth teams will be on tour till September 10 and they will assess the damage and submit a report to the Home Ministry a senior state government functionary told IANSThe state government has pegged a loss of Rs 3959 crore Till now the spells of rain have continued during the monsoon and the figure of damage is increasing in all 12 districts of the stateThe Indian Air Force was deployed for rescue operations of the Manimahesh Yatra to assist stranded pilgrimsThe Congress government in the state has been demanding a special relief package from the Central governmentIn June 31 people died in Seraj in Mandi district the Assembly constituency by BJP leader Jairam Thakur and road connectivity to all places was cut offAfter that Kullu Kangra Mandi and now Chamba district were badly impacted The State Disaster Management Authority SDMA reported that 869 roads remain blocked while 1572 power supply lines and 389 water supply schemes have been disruptedSince June 20 the state has recorded more than 330 landslides leaving a trail of destruction Responding to Prime Minister Modirsquos visit to Himachal Pradesh state Public Works Minister Vikramaditya Singh told the media in Shimla earlier that PM Modi did not visit the state during natural disastersldquoIt is a good thing that now PM Modi is coming to Himachal Pradesh to visit disasteraffected areasrdquo He said Prime Minister Modi ldquoconsiders Himachal Pradesh as his second homerdquoldquoThe state government has already received information about his possible visitrdquo Singh said adding the government has demanded that the disaster in Himachal Pradesh should be declared a national disasterIn the just concluded Monsoon Session of the Assembly the government passed a resolution to declare the state a national disasterhit state in view of the unprecedented situationThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever