Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on has said the flood situation in the state has not been caused by mining in the rivers.

The CM said such statements by the Opposition parties are illogical to make as flood and mining have no connection. He was addressing a press conference here on Wednesday.

He said legal mining in riverbeds as per the mining plan can rather have the potential of increasing the water intake capacity of rivers and rather help in preventing floods in low-lying areas, as excess built-up of silt is removed in the mining process.

Khattar also suggested that excess slit should be removed by way of mining and otherwise from canals as well so that their water capacity in canal beds can also increase.

He said that during the Flood Control Board meeting held in January, an amount of Rs 930 Crore has been already approved for tackling flood relief works.

The CM said the proposal to construct a dam 500 metres behind the Hathnikund Barrage is being taken up with the Himachal government.

He said due to floods caused by excessive rains, there has been a loss of approximately Rs 500 Crore as per the initial estimate in the state.

Divulging the details about those who lost their lives due to the flood, Khattar said as per the information, 35 deaths have been reported so far. He said that compensation to the families of these deceased people will be given as per the provision of disaster funds.

“For loss of human lives a compensation of Rs Four lakh will be given, while in case of loss of limbs, the compensation will be Rs 74,000 per person when the disability is between 40 and 60 per cent. An amount of Rs 2,50,000 per person, when the disability is more than 60 percent,” Khattar said.

He said that 125 houses were fully damaged whereas 615 houses have been reported as partially damaged.

The CM said crops have also been damaged due to floods, but the assessment of damage will be done after the month of July because sowing of some crops can be done again till 31 July.

Khattar also announced to contribute an amount of Rs. 5 crores to Himachal CM relief fund as flood relief. He said the state government is providing all possible help, both financially and medically for those who have been adversely affected due to heavy rainfall in the past.

Sharing the rainfall statistics, the CM said that from 8 July to 12 July, the state received 110 millimeter (mm) of rainfall, which is 387 per cent of the normal of 28.4 mm.

The normal rainfall in Yamunanagar was 32.8 mm, 32.9 mm in Kurukshetra, 53 mm in Panchkula and 58.5 mm in Ambala, while this time these four districts received 842, 814, 699 and 514 per cent of normal rainfall respectively.

“As a result, almost all rivers in Haryana namely Yamuna, Markanda, Tangari, Ghaggar, and Saraswati. Besides this, all drains have remained in full spate. There were breaches and overflows at many places leading to flooding of fields, roads and habitations causing loss of lives and damage to properties that necessitated immediate rescue and still ongoing relief and recovery efforts,” he said.

The CM said 12 districts were declared flood-affected. Sharing the data regarding the same, he said that 1353 villages and 4 MC areas in 12 districts namely Ambala, Fatehabad, Faridabad, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Karnal, Panchkula, Panipat, Palwal, Sonipat, Sirsa and Yamunanagar have been declared as flood affected in the state.