State govt ‘incompetence’ caused flood & destruction in Punjab, alleges BJP in Ludhiana.

Ludhiana: A press conference was organised at the district BJP office in Dugri on Saturday where Union minister B L Verma said it was due to the incompetence of the state government that Punjab was in the grip of floods today. If the dams were repaired on time by the state government, then the havoc of floods would not have been so severe. Where the amount released for the repair of dams was used by the state govt is also a matter of investigation, he added.Verma said recently he visited many villages in Ludhiana, where the houses and fields of the farmers were destroyed due to floods. He added that due to illegal mining, floodwaters took their toll in the villages adjoining Ludhiana. "No attempt was made by the state govt to stop illegal mining. If illegal mining had stopped, perhaps the crops of the farmers would have been saved from destruction. This clearly shows that illegal mining took place with the consent of the people inside the state govt".Lashing out at the AAP government over crop insurance scheme, Verma said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had started the crop insurance scheme in 2022, but the state govt did not implemented it to date. If the crop insurance scheme was implemented in Punjab, the farmer would have received full compensation. Hence, the state government has completely failed in Punjab.The Union minister said in view of the floods, PM Modi had done justice to the Punjabis by announcing a relief package of Rs 1,600 crore for the farmers of Punjab along with an additional relief package, but the state government has not yet given that money to the affected. He added that the Union govt had always stood with Punjab, whereas the state govt has cheated its people to date.