Amritsar, October 26 (Harbans Singh)
Fulfilling another promise made with the flood victims of the state, the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Sunday flagged off seven trucks to provide two lakh quintal wheat seeds free of cost to the farmers who have lost their crop in around five lakh acres of land during the recent floods.
The Chief Minister said that the farmers of the state have faced unimaginable hardships due to the flood and the government is firmly with the farmers of the state in this hour of grave crisis. He said that the food growers of the state have suffered a whopping loss during the recent floods due to which the state government has decided to provide two lakh quintal seeds worth Rs 74 crore will be provided free of cost to them. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that the process to distribute the seeds free of cost the farmers of the flood affected districts had started and will be completed soon.
The Chief Minister said that the hard working and resilient farmers of the state had played a key role in making the country self-sufficient in food production. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that the farmers of the state are facing a major crisis due to the floods but the state government will leave no stone unturned to bail them out. He said that the state government is providing free wheat seeds to these farmers for helping them to sow the upcoming Rabi crop.
The Chief Minister said that this is a humble effort by the state government to mitigate the woes faced by the farmers due to the devastation caused by the floods. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that the destruction caused by these floods is unimaginable and unprecedented as Punjab had never seen such damage before. He said that the hard working, brave and resilient farmers of the state had combated the fury of floods and were ready to contribute grains to the national food pool.
The Chief Minister bemoaned that the floods have submerged over 2,300 villages, affected more than 2 million people, and destroyed crops across five lakh acres of land. Tragically, he said that 56 lives were lost, and around seven lakh people were rendered homeless adding that 3,200 government schools were damaged, 19 colleges reduced to rubble, 1,400 clinics and hospitals were ruined, 8,500 kilometers of roads were destroyed, and 2,500 bridges collapsed. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that as per initial estimates,
