Chandigarh, Jan 28 (PTI) With Punjab witnessing devastating floods last year, a senior government official on Wednesday said there is a crucial need for stronger inter-state coordination.
Anurag Verma, Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Financial Commissioner, Revenue (FCR), said that in last year’s massive floods, about 60 people lost their lives, 5 lakh acres of land got inundated, while 3.5 lakh acres of farmers’ land suffered huge losses.
“There was also loss of livestock and huge damage to infrastructure. We have submitted a PDNA (post-disaster needs assessment) of about Rs 11,000 crore to the government of India,” he said.
The Army’s Western Command, in partnership with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), on Wednesday hosted a conclave in Chandimandir near here on disaster resilience to bolster the country’s readiness against natural and man-made calamities.
Speaking about the lessons drawn from last year’s floods at the event, Verma said, “There is a very crucial need for stronger inter-state coordination. We have been talking about inter-agency coordination, but from last year’s experience, we realised that we need much better coordination with Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
“Similarly, we need greater coordination with the Central Water Commission (CWC), which needs to strengthen its river monitoring mechanisms across the rivers flowing through Punjab. We are also strengthening our local response capacity. We have got approval to induct 545 personnel into the State Disaster Response Force.” The conclave also saw D C Rana, Special Secretary, State Disaster Management Authority, Himachal Pradesh, share Himachal’s perspective on disasters, which the state has been facing over the years.
“If you look at various extreme weather events, the number of cloudbursts and flashfloods is increasing. We saw this in 2023 and 2025. These are now happening in areas where we never thought of them before. In Mandi for example, which is a open valley with a green backdrop and untouched forests,” he said.
“Another phenomenon we are experiencing a lot in Himachal is land subsidence, which affected more than 1,700 houses in 2023,” he said.
Also, more than 45 sq km of land in the state was lost because of landslides in 2023, Rana added.
Snober Jamil from the J-K State Disaster Management Authority said that climate change is aggravating many of the disasters, particularly the hydrometeorological ones.
“We are witnessing a cluster of disasters now. We are getting extreme rainfall, which is leading to flashfloods, cloudbursts, landslides,” she said. PTI SUN ARI
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