In the wake of the monsoon season, the Punjab Water Resources minister Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria on Thursday directed the officials of his department to be fully prepared to deal with any emergency like situation due to heavy rains.

Sarkaria made it clear that all the officers and employees of the department would monitor the situation round the clock in the monsoon season, and no negligence will be tolerated.

Earlier, during the state level flood protection committee meeting on 8 May, Sarkaria had directed that such meetings would be held in the month of February from the next year so that adequate flood protection arrangements can be get done on time.

In a statement issued, Sarkaria assured that the Water Resources and Revenue Department would discharge its duty with utmost honesty and responsibility to prevent the floods. He said a strict action will be taken against any officer or employee in case of negligence.

An official spokesperson of the department said that Rs 25 crore was sanctioned for urgent flood preventive works and the cleaning of drains.

Besides this amount, additional funds of Rs 9.70 crore, Rs 60 lakh per district heavy hit by flood and Rs 25 lakh per district for less affected, have been set aside to deal with any emergency like situation due to floods, the spokesperson added.

It was added that these funds will be utilised in an emergency situation as per the instructions of the concerned deputy commissioners. Giving details about the preventive measures, the spokesperson said the department has 45 machines, which have been deployed at different places for cleaning of drains.

Apart from this, 24X7 hour running flood control rooms have been set-up at district and tehsil level. These control rooms are connected with the state flood control room set up at the head office of Water Resources Department in Sector-18 and Punjab Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh.

“All arrangements have been made to inform the common people about any kind of emergency, such as heavy rainfall or additional water release from the Dams,” said the spokesperson.

The spokesperson said that all the officers and employees of the department have been asked to not leave their stations without the permission of the competent authority. The Punjab government has made adequate arrangements to tackle any adverse situation during the monsoon season and people’s lives and property will be fully protected, added the spokesperson.