Punjab Floods: More than 1000 villages in Punjab are suffering from floods, AAP government blames the center:

News Topical, Digital Desk : More than 1,000 villages and more than 61,000 hectares of agricultural land have been affected by the severe floods in Punjab. Relief and rescue operations are continuing at a rapid pace. Most of the villages affected by the floods are in Gurdaspur district.

While opposition parties alleged that people of Punjab were suffering due to the "incompetence" of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, state water resources minister B. Kumar Goyal claimed that the devastation could have been averted to a great extent if the Centre-run Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) had released water on time in June.

Appeal to the people of Punjab to support each other.
Leaders of some opposition parties wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding a special relief package for Punjab. Meanwhile, Akal Takht's Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj on Saturday appealed to the people to help the flood-affected people of the state.

He also appealed to all Punjabis to support each other in this difficult time and help every Punjabi trapped in crisis. Kuldeep Singh Gargaj said that it is important to find out the real reasons behind the frequent floods in Punjab so that people remain alert and prepared.

Floods caused by poor management of dams - Congress
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Vading blamed the alleged mismanagement of dams and water resources for the floods and demanded fixing of responsibility.

He questioned why water was allowed to accumulate in dams despite heavy rainfall forecasts and why it was not released in a phased manner. He said that this was more of a 'criminal negligence' than an unexpected natural disaster.

Due to heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, water level in the catchment areas of Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers has increased and Punjab is in the grip of severe floods. The most affected villages are in Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Fazilka, Kapurthala, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Hoshiarpur and Amritsar districts.

Central government responsible for floods in Punjab - Water Resources Minister
A total of 11,330 people have been evacuated from flood-affected areas to safer places so far due to joint efforts of NDRF, Army, Border Security Force, BSF and district officials. Many ministers and MLAs are visiting flood-affected areas and taking stock of relief and rescue operations. State Water Resources Minister Goyal held the central government responsible for the worst flood in the last 37 years.

Goyal claimed that the devastation could have been reduced to a great extent had the Bhakra Beas Management Board released water on time in June. Lakhs of people in Punjab are still facing hardships but the Prime Minister has not made a single statement on the crisis, leave alone giving any help to the state.