Punjab floods: 41 killed, over 1,600 people living in relief camps

Chandigarh: Forty-one people were killed while 1,616 are still living in 173 relief camps following the devastating floods that hit Punjab recently, officials said on Tuesday.

Nineteen districts -- Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Fatehgarh Sahib, Faridkot, Hoshiarpur, Rupnagar, Kapurthala, Patiala, Moga, Ludhiana, SAS Nagar, Jalandhar, Sangrur, SBS Nagar, Fazilka, Gurdaspur, Mansa, Bathinda and Pathankot -- were affected by the floods.

The government and rescue agencies evacuated to safety 27,286 people from waterlogged areas, the officials said.

According to a revenue department report, 41 people died in the floods.

Several districts of Punjab and Haryana were battered by the recent heavy downpour that paralysed daily life and flooded vast tracts of residential and agricultural land.

Punjab Power Minister Harbhajan Singh said electricity supply has been restored to all 595 places affected by the floods.

Rupnagar, SAS Nagar, Patiala and Sangrur were the most affected districts, he said and added that the floods caused significant damage to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) infrastructure.

"The loss of infrastructure has had a significant impact on the power supply in the affected areas, affecting essential services. The PSPCL workforce worked round the clock to restore power supply to the affected areas," the minister said.

PSPCL officers had outlined their priorities for restoring power with the highest priority being given to the critical infrastructure, such as hospitals, medical facilities, telecom and water supply, he said.

The minister said the PSPCL lost an estimated Rs 16 crore in the form of infrastructure damage.

The damage includes uprooted poles, damaged transformers and flooded substations, which damaged the equipment and power lines, Singh added.

Twenty 66 KV substations across the state were inundated, severely damaging infrastructure.