Punjab has witessed the most devastating monsoon over the last 37 years. Jalandhar is also among the worst affected areas of Punjab.
Jalandhar experineced the worst rainfall over the years starting from the September month along with damages caused by waterlogging even at the posh areas like Model Town.
According to the reports Jalandhar's Model town area alone suffered the massive loss of around ₹4-5 Crores. The worst affected stores located in Model Town areas included the Underground, Baby Step and other stores located in and around he Mata Rani Chowk.
The Punjab government has started a special assessment of losses to houses damaged due to the recent floods and heavy rains in Jalandhar district. According to statement given by DC Jalandhar Himanshu Aggarwal, 1,326 houses were damaged across different subdivisions. He said district administration has already deputed SDOs and JEs from PWD and Panchayati Raj departments to carry out the survey.
Jalandhar I: 432 houses damaged
Nakodar: 325
Shahkot: 160
Adampur: 99
Jalandhar-II: 150
Phillaur: 160
The State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) norms were revised on September 12, following which compensation will now be paid as per the new rules:
₹1.20 lakh for completely destroyed/severely damaged houses
₹40,000 for partially damaged houses (damage above 15%)
As per SDRF norms for huts/cattle sheds attached to houses
Officials clarified that those who had received relief earlier under the old provision will also be eligible for revised payments. Reports are to be compiled and submitted after field verification by October 18, while the entire process will be completed in 32 days.
Officers deployed for house damage survey
Jalandhar-1: Prabhjot Singh Sidhu (JE), Jasbir Singh (JE), Jasnoor Pal Singh (SDE), Varun Aneja (JE)
Jalandhar-2: Parwinder Pal Singh (SDE), Kulwinder Singh (SDE), Rajpreet Singh (JE)
Phillaur: Amit (JE), Anuj Kumar (JE), Amit Garg (JE)
Nakodar: Rajat Chaudhary (JE), Jatinder Kumar (JE), Sandeep (JE), Aryan Sinha (JE)
Shahkot: Savinder Jeet Singh (AE), Lakhwinder Singh (AE), Avinash Kumar (JE)
Adampur: Sushil Kumar (SDE), Mandeep (JE), Mohammad Zaid (JE)
Meanwhile, Jalandhar continues to witness fluctuating weather patterns. The maximum temperature on Monday touched 35°C, while the minimum was 26.9°C. Experts at the Chandigarh Meteorological Centre say monsoon withdrawal will begin across Punjab after September 20. A cloudy spell is expected on September 17–18 with light drizzle at some places, after which dry conditions will prevail for most days of September.
Rainfall till now in Jalandhar: 902.7 mm
273% higher rainfall than the corresponding period last year (308 mm)
Rainfall in September: 233.2 mm
The withdrawal of monsoon should benefit farmers as paddy procurement in government mandis starts from September 16.
Ongoing sunlight over the next few weeks will allow the crop to dry naturally, making for easy sale at mandis. Farmers were relieved that unlike some areas of Punjab, there was no Sutlej flood in Jalandhar that saved their paddy.
Meanwhile, people living in waterlogged localities grumbled that substandard sewerage management made their condition worse this year. They have urged the government to see to it that proper drainage is done to avoid such destruction in the future.