Amritsar, Sept. 15 — Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday visited flood-ravaged areas of Amritsar district, meeting families whose homes and fields were devastated by the recent disaster.
Gandhi, accompanied by Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, Amritsar MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla and other party leaders, first reached Ghonewal village in Ajnala, one of the worst-hit areas. Sitting among residents, he spoke with villagers about the scale of damage to their homes and livelihoods.
Later in the day, Gandhi is scheduled to pay obeisance at the historic Baba Budha Sahib gurdwara in Ramdas and then travel to flood-affected areas in Gurdaspur district.
Punjab has faced one of its worst floods in decades, triggered by heavy rainfall in Himachal Pradesh that swelled the Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers along with several seasonal rivulets. According to official figures, more than 1.98 lakh hectares of cropland have been damaged. The hardest-hit districts include Gurdaspur (40,169 hectares), Fazilka (25,182 ha), Patiala (17,690 ha), Kapurthala (17,574 ha), Ferozepur (17,257 ha) and Tarn Taran (12,828 ha). The death toll across the state has risen to 56.
Congress leaders in Punjab have sharply criticised the handling of the disaster. Calling the floods a “man-made disaster,” state party chief Warring accused both the AAP-led Punjab government and the Centre of negligence. “When Shivraj Chouhan came here, he only blamed others. The AAP government is doing nothing for the people,” he said.
