Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday reviewed the relief and rescue operations in flood affected areas of Ferozepur district. The Chief Minister also announced compensation for the flood affected people here. The Chief Minister said that the government would give full compensation to the affected people for the property damage caused by the floods.

Special Girdawari of every village and house will be done. Rural laborers will also be given 10 percent compensation. He said that the agriculture department is helping the farmers in every possible way and the loss of crops will also be assessed soon. The Chief Minister said that the government would give a compensation of Rs 1.25 lakh to the victims of collapse of houses due to flood and Rs one lakh in case of collapse of cattle sheds.

The Chief Minister visited several villages affected by the flood by walking on water and listened to the problems of the people. He also went to some houses and sat and talked with the people. After this, he went out in an army boat to take stock of the flood affected areas and villages. The Chief Minister also distributed relief material to the flood victims.

Due to heavy rains and floods in Punjab, paddy crop is expected to be ruined in about 2.40 lakh hectare area in many districts. This estimate has been made by a senior official of the Agriculture Department. On Friday, an Agriculture Department official said that 2.40 lakh hectares of paddy area has been affected due to the rains. In this, crops will have to be sown again in more than 83,000 hectares. Paddy crop has been badly damaged in Patiala, Sangrur, Mohali, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Fatehgarh Sahib districts.

The agriculture officer said that the affected farmers would be given paddy seedlings for replanting. Apart from this, they will also be encouraged to sow PR-126 variety of paddy and Basmati. He said that special girdawari would be conducted to assess the exact loss of the crop.