Kalia Slams AAP Govt for Negligence in Flood Management, Blames Lapses for ₹13,000 Cr Loss
Former Punjab Minister and Member of the BJP National Executive, Manoranjan Kalia, has strongly criticized the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government for its alleged failure to take timely action to prevent the recent floods that caused extensive damage across the state.
City Air News
Oct 11, 2025 03:39
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Ludhiana, October 11, 2025: Former Punjab Minister and Member of the BJP National Executive, Manoranjan Kalia, has strongly criticized the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government for its alleged failure to take timely action to prevent the recent floods that caused extensive damage across the state.
In a press statement issued here on Saturday, Kalia said that the floods led to widespread losses — destroying over 4.8 lakh acres of crops, damaging around 17,000 houses, affecting more than 2.5 lakh livestock, and causing major damage to 4,657 km of rural roads and 485 bridges.
“These losses could have been averted had the AAP Government taken the Meteorological Department’s warnings of above-normal rainfall seriously,” he asserted.
Addressing a press conference, Kalia alleged that the state government miserably failed to take pre-emptive measures and ignored the SDRF guidelines, which emphasize preparedness, prevention, and mitigation in flood management.
He pointed out that in July 2023, Punjab had witnessed similar floods in Sultanpur Lodhi, Patiala, Ropar, Dera Bassi, and other regions, affecting over 1,056 villages. Following that disaster, a joint committee of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand had proposed a hazard survey for the flood plains of the Sutlej, Beas, and Ghaggar rivers in June 2024. Despite an estimated cost of ₹8.92 crore for a digital elevation model of the Sutlej, Kalia said, the AAP Government has failed to even float a tender for over 15 months.
The BJP leader further alleged that the government had neglected the maintenance of the Madhopur Headworks floodgates, which were found jammed and non-operational when 2.12 lakh cusecs of water were released from the Ranjit Sagar Dam, leading to severe flooding in Pathankot and Gurdaspur.
Kalia also criticized Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann for skipping Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting in Gurdaspur on September 9, 2025. “Instead of attending himself or sending the Finance Minister, the Chief Minister deputed two junior ministers — Gurmeet Singh Khuddian and Hardeep Singh Mundian — who were not even in agreement with Chief Secretary K.A.P. Sinha on the actual flood loss figures,” he said.
According to Kalia, Chief Secretary Sinha had pegged Punjab’s flood losses at ₹13,289 crore, while the AAP ministers demanded ₹20,000 crore from the Prime Minister.
