Punjab Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management Minister Hardeep Singh Mundian on Tuesday informed that the flood situation in the state has worsened further during the past 24 hours, with 33 more villages, 133 additional people, and 6,988 hectares of crops affected.
The cumulative tally now stands at 2,097 affected villages across 22 districts, with the impacted population touching 3,88,092.
The Revenue Minister said that one more life was lost in Ludhiana during the past 24 hours, taking the overall toll to 52 across 15 districts. Three persons remain missing in Pathankot.
In terms of rescue operations, Mundian said that 191 more people were evacuated in the last 24 hours, raising the total to 23,206.
The highest evacuations so far have been reported in Gurdaspur (5,581), Fazilka (4,254), Ferozepur (4,012), Amritsar (3,260), Hoshiarpur (1,616), Kapurthala (1,428) and Pathankot (1,139). Other districts include Barnala (738), Jalandhar (511), Mansa (178), Moga (155), Rupnagar (313) and Tarn Taran (21).
The Minister further informed that 119 relief camps are presently operational in the state, sheltering 5,521 people. These include Fazilka with 14 camps housing 2,946 people, Barnala with 43 camps sheltering 638 persons, Hoshiarpur with 4 camps accommodating 921 people, Moga with 3 camps hosting 155 persons, and Mansa with one camp housing 15 affected persons.
Other camps are in Amritsar (16 camps, 51 persons), Ferozepur (5 camps, 202 persons), Gurdaspur (13 camps, 10 persons), Jalandhar (18 camps, 453 persons), Ludhiana (1 camp, 47 persons) and Sangrur (1 camp, 83 persons).
On agricultural losses, Mundian highlighted that the total crop area damaged has reached 1,91,926.45 hectares across 18 districts, up from around 1.84 lakh hectares reported a day earlier.
Gurdaspur remains the worst-hit with 40,169 hectares, followed by Amritsar (27,154 hectares), Fazilka (19,037 hectares), Kapurthala (17,574 hectares), Patiala (17,404 hectares), Ferozepur (17,257 hectares), Tarn Taran (12,828 hectares), Mansa (12,207 hectares), Hoshiarpur (8,322 hectares), Sangrur (6,560 hectares), Jalandhar (4,800 hectares), Pathankot (2,442 hectares), Moga (2,240 hectares), SAS Nagar (2,000 hectares), Rupnagar (1,080 hectares), Bathinda (586.79 hectares), SBS Nagar (188.3 hectares) and Ludhiana (76 hectares).
He added that a total of 2,097 villages across 22 districts have been impacted by the floods till September 9. The worst-hit districts in terms of affected villages include Gurdaspur (329 villages), Amritsar (196), Hoshiarpur (208), Kapurthala (145), Jalandhar (93), Ludhiana (86), Fazilka (86) and Ferozepur (108).
Other districts reporting significant damage are Sangrur (107), Patiala (133), Pathankot (88) and Mansa (95 villages). Smaller but notable impacts have also been reported from Barnala (121), Tarn Taran (70), Rupnagar (66), Moga (52), Faridkot (15), Bathinda (21), SAS Nagar (15), SBS Nagar (28), Malerkotla (12) and Sri Muktsar Sahib (23).
The affected population across the state, the Revenue Minister said, has reached 3,88,092. The maximum impact has been reported from Gurdaspur (1,45,000 persons), followed by Amritsar (1,36,105), Ferozepur (38,614) and Fazilka (25,037). Other major districts include SAS Nagar (14,000), Pathankot (15,503), Kapurthala (5,728), Hoshiarpur (2,785), Jalandhar (1,970), Barnala (1,451), Moga (800), Rupnagar (778), Mansa (178), Sangrur (83) and Tarn Taran (60).
The Cabinet Minister further said that 18 teams of NDRF, 2 teams of SDRF, 21 Army columns, 2 sections and 1 Engineer Task Force are deployed in flood-hit areas. Around 30 helicopters of the Indian Air Force and Army continue to assist in rescue operations. BSF units remain engaged in Ferozepur, while 178 boats are also part of the ongoing relief efforts.