Batala, 2 September, 2025 (Yes Punjab News)
S. Bhupinder Singh Mann, EX MP has written a letter to the Prime Minister and the Union Agriculture Minister to immediately declare the Punjab floods a national calamity. The letter has been copied to the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, outlines the urgent needs of affected farmers.
This was informed in a joint press release issued today by S. Bhupinder Singh Mann, former Rajya Sabha MP and National President of BKU (Mann) and Chairman of the All India Kisan Coordination Committee, along with S. Sukhwinder Singh Kahlon, President BKU (Mann) and ex‑Chairman Sugar Mill Batala, and S. Balraj Singh General Secretary, Baldev Singh Daburji, Vice President, Surjit Singh Sodhi General Secretary, Gurmit Singh Kotli Phasi, Paramjit Singh Malhi
S Mann informed that in his letter to PM he has informed that these are one of the worst floods seen in my recent memory. According to un-verified assessments, over 1,500 villages across Punjab have been submerged, and more than 3 lakh acres of agricultural land have been flooded, affecting around 2 million residents—a crisis deemed the worst in nearly four decades for Punjab, India.
The leaders have demanded the waiver of agricultural loans in flood-affected areas—or at the very least a 5-year deferment on loan recovery, noting that rehabilitation for farmers will likely take at least five years given the extent of damage to both the paddy crop and the upcoming wheat sowing.
They also called for the prompt release of funds from the National Calamity Relief Fund, emphasizing that massive funding will be essential to restore not only crops and cattle but also houses, roads, tubewells, and other critical infrastructure, all of which have been severely disrupted.
They also lamented that due to the sand mafia operating since two decades, the de-sliting has not happened as the mafia regulates the demand and supply to keep the prices high. Had this been rationalised and de-silting in rivulets, rivers and canals been allowed to farmers, the crisis would have been much lower.
The press release further highlighted how widespread siltation, soil erosion, and the failure of existing agricultural insurance schemes have aggravated farmer distress.
As S. Mann remarked, “Crop insurance schemes essentially safeguard the banks’ interests, not the farmers’. They are failing the very people they purport to protect. A farmer-friendly insurance policy must be developed—and critically, that policy must be shaped with farmers in the consultation process, not just insurance companies.”
They also raised alarm over the spread of misinformation on social media and called for the immediate release of accurate data for reason of floods.
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