Crops on over 4,000 hectares in Punjab have been completely destroyed by floods, a Punjab Agriculture department official said here on Thursday.

Besides, crops on 24,112 hectares got submerged in 561 villages of 13 districts, he added.

Maximum damage was witnessed in Rupnagar, the downstream district of the Sutlej river, where crops on 1,715 hectares out of a total 4,000 hectares were completely destroyed in the deluge, the official said.

Affected districts

Crop loss was also reported from Moga (1,688 hectares), Ludhiana (220 hectares), Mohali (100 hectares), SBS Nagar (56 hectares), Sangrur (140 hectares) and Amritsar (80 hectares), acording to a report prepared by the Punjab Agriculture Department.

Crops on over 24,000 hectares were submerged in 13 districts – Upnagar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Moga, Kapurthala, Gurdaspur, Ferozepur, Fatehgarh Sahib, Mohali, Patiala, SBS Nagar, Sangrur and Amritsar, as per the report.

Water released from the Bhakra dam in the Sutlej river and its tributaries caused the floods and damaged kharif crop in the State, the report said.

Loss assessment

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has said special ‘girdawri’ (crop loss assessment) would be conducted once the water receded in the affected areas.

Notably, following recent heavy rains and the release of excess water from the Bhakra dam, swollen Sutlej river and its tributaries had inundated villages in several areas in Punjab, causing extensive damage to crops, especially paddy, and homes in low-lying areas.

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