Amid the deadly Punjab Floods, on Tuesday, September 16, the state Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian asked the Union Government to offer additional financial assistance of Rs 151 crore to the state under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) to restore the land silted up in the border districts of the state.
Speaking at the national conference on agriculture, Rabi campaign 2025 held under the chairmanship of Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, the state agri minister stated that recent Punjab floods have heavily damaged large areas of cultivable land, leading to massive losses to the crops. According to him, the Border districts of Punjab, such as Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Kapurthala, Fazilka and Ferozepur, are the worst affected, and up to 5 feet of sand has been deposited in the flood-affected agricultural fields.
Furthermore, he said that the people of Punjab have always come forward with open hearts during the challenging times in any part of the country; now the Union govt. should help the state and take it out of this critical situation of disastrous Punjab Floods. He added that releasing additional funds on time under the DPR component of RKVY will help in compensating farmers for their crop losses. Additionally, he urged the Union Agriculture Minister to provide 637 quintals of certified mustard seeds and 375 quintals of black gram seeds for farmers affected by the Punjab Floods
Punjab Floods: A reminiscence of the 1988 deluge
Notably, Punjab has witnessed the worst floods in decades as relentless rainfall and swollen rivers have submerged villages, towns, and farmlands, affecting over 2.56 lakh people. The Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi rivers surged, inundating large areas and damaging over 2.3 lakh acres of farmland, and devastating the paddy crop of the Kharif season. Undeniably, the recent Punjab floods have reminded the 1988 deluge, when the water level in the villages had gone up to 12 feet. It had left people stranded on terraces and trees.