Chandigarh, Aug 25 (PTI) A central flood control room has been set up at the Circuit House in Jalandhar to tackle any possible flood situation in Punjab and to ensure immediate relief in the affected areas, officials said on Monday.
The control room will function round-the-clock. The main objective of this initiative is to further strengthen flood prevention and management, an official statement said.
The state government has also issued an emergency helpline number – 0181-2240064.
The government has entrusted the overall responsibility of the control room to state minister Aman Arora, who also holds the charge of administrative reforms and information technology.
Arora will be assisted by Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Aggarwal and Deepak Bali, Advisor, Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, the statement said.
In addition, 18 staff members have been deployed to attend to calls related to flood/disaster management.
The control room will primarily monitor three districts – Kapurthala, Tarn Taran and Fazilka.
Health Minister Balbir Singh, Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian, and Water Resources Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal have been designated as ministers in charge for overseeing flood management across Punjab, the statement said.
For Kapurthala, the responsibility has been entrusted to Minister for Defence Services Welfare, Mohinder Bhagat, and Minister for Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management, Hardeep Singh Mundian.
In Tarn Taran, the monitoring will be done by Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar and Public Works Minister Harbhajan Singh.
For Fazilka, the responsibility has been given to the Minister for Social Security, Women and Child Development, Baljit Kaur, and Minister for Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Tarunpreet Singh Sondh.
The Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers and many seasonal rivulets are in spate because of heavy rainfall in their catchment areas in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.
The release of surplus water from the Pong and Bhakra dams have also led to a rise in the water level of the rivers, compounding problems for the villages living by these rivers.
Tanda in Hoshiarpur district, Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala district and some villages in Ferozepur, Fazilka and Tarn Taran districts have been hit hard. PTI CHS ARI
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.