Hardeep Singh Mundian said that one more casualty in Ludhiana has raised the statewide death toll to 52 across 15 districts, while three persons remain missing in Pathankot.
Punjab Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management Minister Hardeep Singh Mundian on Tuesday reported that the flood situation in the state has worsened in the past 24 hours, with 33 more villages, 133 additional people, and 6,988 hectares of crops affected. This brings the total to 2,097 impacted villages across 22 districts, with the number of people hit reaching 3,88,092.
The Minister said that one more casualty in Ludhiana has raised the statewide death toll to 52 across 15 districts, while three persons remain missing in Pathankot.
In terms of rescue operations, 191 more people were evacuated during the last 24 hours, pushing the total evacuations to 23,206. The highest numbers were reported from Gurdaspur (5,581), Fazilka (4,254), Ferozepur (4,012), Amritsar (3,260), Hoshiarpur (1,616), Kapurthala (1,428), and Pathankot (1,139). Other districts include Barnala (738), Jalandhar (511), Mansa (178), Moga (155), Rupnagar (313), and Tarn Taran (21).
At present, 119 relief camps are operating across the state, housing 5,521 people. Among them, Fazilka has 14 camps with 2,946 people, Barnala 43 camps with 638, Hoshiarpur 4 camps with 921, Moga 3 camps with 155, Mansa 1 with 15, Amritsar 16 with 51, Ferozepur 5 with 202, Gurdaspur 13 with 10, Jalandhar 18 with 453, Ludhiana 1 with 47, and Sangrur 1 with 83.
On agricultural losses, Mundian stated that crop damage has risen to 1,91,926 hectares across 18 districts, up from 1.84 lakh hectares a day earlier. The worst-affected districts are Gurdaspur (40,169 hectares), Amritsar (27,154), Fazilka (19,037), Kapurthala (17,574), Patiala (17,404), Ferozepur (17,257), Tarn Taran (12,828), and Mansa (12,207). Other districts include Hoshiarpur, Sangrur, Jalandhar, Pathankot, Moga, SAS Nagar, Rupnagar, Bathinda, SBS Nagar, and Ludhiana.
The Minister noted that the worst-hit in terms of villages are Gurdaspur (329 villages), Amritsar (196), Hoshiarpur (208), Kapurthala (145), Jalandhar (93), Ludhiana (86), Fazilka (86), and Ferozepur (108), with other districts also reporting significant damage.
So far, the most affected populations are in Gurdaspur (1,45,000 people), Amritsar (1,36,105), Ferozepur (38,614), and Fazilka (25,037), along with smaller but notable impacts in other districts.
Currently, 18 NDRF teams, 2 SDRF teams, 21 Army columns, 2 sections, and 1 Engineer Task Force are engaged in relief and rescue. Around 30 helicopters of the Air Force and Army are also assisting, while BSF units in Ferozepur and 178 boats remain active in ongoing operations.