AAP govt misled Punjab public on flood relief claims: BJP's Chugh

BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh on Thursday alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab had misled the public on flood relief by inflating damage estimates, claiming that the projected loss of Rs 20,000 crore had come down to Rs 11,855 crore in the final assessment submitted by the state government.

Chugh said the revised figure exposed what he described as false allegations levelled by the Bhagwant Mann government against the Centre.

He alleged that a special session of the Punjab Assembly was convened only to push a ''misleading narrative'' and accuse the Union government, resulting in wastage of public money.

Calling the floods a ''man-made disaster'', Chugh blamed the state government for poor preparedness and administrative failure.

He said the first flood preparedness meeting was held on June 5, 2025, barely 17 days before the monsoon, leaving no time to clean nearly 2,800 km of Dhussi embankments and drainage channels.

He alleged that 24 of the 28 gates at the Madhopur Headworks were defective, while desilting work at the Harike Headworks had not been carried out for years, leading to breaches of embankments and flooding in several villages.

Chugh further alleged that illegal mining weakened riverbanks and the delayed release of water from the Ranjit Sagar Dam worsened the situation in Pathankot, Gurdaspur and Amritsar districts.

He claimed that only 15 motorboats were available across three severely affected districts, highlighting poor disaster management.

The BJP leader also alleged that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his ministers failed to focus on relief operations during the crisis, while opposition leaders also indulged in politics.

Chugh said the Centre extended full support to Punjab during the floods.

He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi deputed Union ministers to assess the situation, visited the affected areas and announced Rs 1,615 crore for Punjab.

The Centre also released Rs 240.80 crore as the second instalment of the State Disaster Response Fund, he said.

He alleged that instead of acknowledging the assistance, the Punjab government resorted to shifting the blame to cover up its failures.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)