CHANDIGARH: The Union Government has declared the Punjab floods a disaster of 'severe nature'.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked the state government to send an assessment report of the damage caused by floods within three months.
Meanwhile, the Punjab Government has suspended three officers who were posted at the Madhopur headworks, which is on the Ravi River.
Two of the 54 gates of the Madhopur barrage on the Ravi River, downstream of the Ranjit Sagar Dam, gave way during the heavy rain on August 28, thus leading to flooding in Pathankot and Gurdaspur districts.
Sources said that the Ministry of Home Affairs on September 16, intimated the state government the decision recognising the severity of the floods.
It was said that in such conditions, financial aid is provided through the State Disaster Response Fund, supplementing it with funds from the National Disaster Response Fund after assessment based on the visit of an inter-ministerial team.
Also, Union Ministers Jitendra Singh and Jitin Prasada had visited flood-hit areas in Pathankot and Gurdaspur to assess the damage.
Punjab Chief Secretary, KAP Sinha, yesterday convened a meeting of heads of all departments and deputy commissioners to prepare a detailed assessment report.
The decision would mean higher allocation of funds; exact details of the implications of the MHA order were being examined, said sources.
Sources said that Executive Engineer (XeN) Nitin Sood, a sub-divisional officer (SDO) Arun Kumar and Junior Engineer (JE) Sachin Thakur have been suspended by the Principal Secretary, Water Resources Department Krishan Kumar, as the orders to this effect have been issued.
It was on the intervening night of August 26 and 27 that 2.12 lakh cusecs of water were released from the Ranjit Sagar Dam.
The 54 floodgates at the barrage had been sealed after Operation Sindoor to stop the flow of water to Pakistan.
All three officials were posted in the irrigation and groundwater division that takes care of the Madhopur headworks.
The action against them comes after the principal secretary of water resources submitted his probe report to the chief secretary earlier this week.
As the water came gushing down from the upstream reservoir of the Ranjit Sagar dam, the floodgates of the barrage were opened when two collapsed under pressure, aggravating floods in the areas downstream.
The flooding caused widespread damage to villages and farmland in Punjab and areas across the border in Pakistan. Thus, two gates broke and the Indian Army had to rescue 50 personnel at the headworks who were stationed there to help open the floodgates.
Also, a building near the floodgates had collapsed under the pressure of raging waters.
The barrage, which is near Pathankot, was first built in the 19th century and rebuilt in 1959, regulates the flow of Ravi River.
Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu has demanded the resignation of Punjab’s Water Resources Minister Barinder Goyal, saying that merely suspending three officials was not enough.
He asserted that both CM Mann and the minister should be held accountable for gross negligence in flood preparation before the onset of monsoons.
Earlier, state irrigation and water resources minister Barinder Goyal had blamed a private company hired to certify the strength of the gates for the collapse.
He had then said that the state government had hired a private firm to assess the strength of the structure.
The company told the government that the gates were in perfect condition and would not suffer any damage even if 6.52 lakh cusecs of water were released, he had said.
