Punjab, Haryana governments offer help for Jammu and Kashmir flood victims

Punjab and Haryana governments on Tuesday offered all necessary assistance to mitigate sufferings of the flood-affected people in Jammu and Kashmir.

Expressing solidarity with residents of the state, facing the worst floods in decades, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said he will soon talk to his Jammu and Kashmir counterpart Omar Abdullah to extend all possible assistance in this hour of crisis.

Badal said he has even asked SGPC and other religious and voluntary organisations to come forward for organising free community kitchens (langars) in the Valley to provide food and succor to the distressed families. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function at Chhapaar in Ludhiana, Badal also offered help to the J&K government for carrying out evacuation of the families stranded in deep waters and their subsequent rehabilitation.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda also offered all help to the J&K government.

The state government will send 50,000 blankets and other relief materials for the flood-affected people of J&K, Hooda said here.