Punjab counts flood losses: Toll climbs to 30, 3L acre land damaged; PM Modi calls up CM Bhagwant Mann

BATHINDA: The monsoon death toll in flood-hit Punjab has climbed to 30, with four more lives lost in Mansa, Fazilka and Ludhiana districts on Monday.

A 34-year-old man and his eight-year-old nephew died when the roof they were sleeping under collapsed at Chenewala village in Mansa district. Villagers attributed the incident to incessant rainfall.


In Abohar, Fazilka district, a 60-year-old woman was killed and her neighbour injured after the roof of their rented house caved in, while an eight-year-old boy drowned after his house collapsed during heavy rainfall in Ludhiana's Puneet Nagar.

The highest number of casualties, six, have been reported from the border district of Pathankot. Three people are also missing from the same district.

Modi calls up Mann, assures full support
Immediately upon landing in New Delhi after his China visit on Monday, PM Narendra Modi called up Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann to discuss the flooding in the state and promised all help and support, govt sources said.

321 villages submerged in Gurdaspur district
While three persons each have died in Amritsar, Barnala, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Mansa, and Rupnagar, one person each has died in Bathinda, Gurdaspur, Patiala, SAS Nagar, Sangrur and Fazilka.

The devastating monsoon has affected 12 of Punjab's 23 districts, impacting a population of over 2.56 lakh people.

The border district of Gurdaspur is the most severely affected, with 321 villages submerged, impacting over 1.45 lakh residents.

Crop losses have been assessed at over 3 lakh acres in the affected districts.

The full extent of the damage to livestock and homes is still being assessed as floodwaters have not yet receded in many areas.

Rescue and relief operations are in full swing. As many as 15,688 people have been rescued from submerged villages. A total of 129 relief camps have been set up to provide shelter to over 7,100 people.

Multiple agencies, including 20 teams of the NDRF, 10 columns of the Indian Army and Air Force, and the BSF, have been deployed to assist with rescue efforts.