Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday surveyed the flood-affected areas of Tarn Taran and Kapurthala districts to assess the damage caused by the overflowing Beas river waters following incessant rains recently.

The CM announced that the special girdawari, ordered by him earlier, will be completed at the earliest, paving way for release of compensation to the affected farmers. He also announced that compensation will also be provided to people whose houses had been damaged in the incessant rains or floods.

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While directing the district officials to closely monitor the situation and ensure timely assistance to the people affected by the floods, Amarinder described the damage to the crops in areas around the Beas River as “considerable”. He, however, said that the situation wasn’t as bad as he had envisaged before leaving for their aerial survey. He said that reports of some crop damage have also been received from districts of Gurdaspur and Amritsar, besides Tarn Taran and Kapurthala.

Allaying fears of farmers that the Food Corporation of India will not procure their produce due to higher moisture content this year, the CM said he had already taken up the matter with the concerned authorities.

The CM said that he will also seek funds from the centre for construction of spurs in River Beas for preventing floods in the future. He said these spurs were necessary for protecting the river banks by keeping the flow of water away from it. He said the flooding in Beas had occurred mainly due to rains in Himachal Pradesh and the release of water from dams there.

Meanwhile, as per data received by Water Resources Department regarding the water levels in dams at 11 a.m., the level stood at 1391.20 feet in Pong Dam against the maximum of 1390 feet. Though the water level had exceeded the maximum level, the situation was under control as there was no excessive inflow due to stoppage of rainfall, the officials informed the CM.

The level at Bhakhra was 1660.24 against the maximum capacity of 1680 feet and at Ranjit Sagar Dam, which feeds River Raavi, it stood at 526.67 meter against the maximum level of 527.91 meter.

Information received from Meteorological Center Chandigarh on Wednesday morning showed that the skies would be clear in the coming days, barring expected rainfall in western Punjab on September 28 and 29. Weather will be dry in Punjab during next three-four days with only occasional isolated thundercloud, the officials informed the Chief Minister, citing available data.