Rahul to visit flood-hit areas in Punjab

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will visit the flood-affected areas of Punjab on Monday and interact with those hit by the natural calamity in Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts.

Gandhi landed at the Sri Guru Ramdas Jee International Airport in Amritsar where he was received by Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa and Amritsar MP Gurjit Singh Aujla.

During his visit, Gandhi will be visiting flood-affected areas in Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts.

He will pay obeisance at the historic gurdwara Baba Budha Sahib in Ramdas area in Amritsar before leaving for Gurchak village in Dera Baba Nanak and Makaura in Gurdaspur.

The MP will also meet flood-affected people during his visit.

Punjab faced one of its worst flood disasters in decades. The floods were a result of swollen Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi rivers along with seasonal rivulets caused by heavy rainfall in their catchment areas in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

Besides, heavy rains in Punjab had also intensified the flooding situation.

The death toll due to the floods presently stands at 56 while crops on 1.98 lakh hectares were damaged.

On September 9, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had reviewed the flood situation and damage in Punjab after conducting an aerial survey of the flood-ravaged areas during his visit.

He had announced a financial assistance of Rs 1,600 crore for the flood-hit state in addition to the Rs 12,000 crore already in the state's kitty.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)