The severe floods in Punjab have affected more than 1,000 villages and more than 61,000 hectares of agricultural land. Relief and rescue operations continue rapidly. Gurdaspur district is the most affected by floods.

While the opposition parties alleged that the people of Punjab are upset due to the ‘disability’ of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, while the State Water Resources Minister B.K. Kumar Goyal claimed that the devastation could be reduced to a great extent due to timely release of water in June by the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) under the Center.

Appeal to the people of Punjab to support each other
Leaders of some opposition parties wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding a special relief package for Punjab. Meanwhile, Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj, the Jathedar of Akal Takht, appealed to the people to help the flood affected people on Saturday.

He also appealed to all the Punjabis to support each other in this difficult time and help every Punjabi trapped in crisis. Kuldeep Singh Gargaj said that it is necessary to find out the real causes of repeated floods in Punjab so that people are alert and ready.

Floods from poor management of dams- Congress
Congress’s Punjab unit president Amarinder Singh Raja Wading held the alleged mismanagement of dams and water sources for the flood and demanded to decide the responsibility.

He questioned why water was allowed to accumulate in the dams despite the forecast of heavy rains and why the water was not released on time in a phased manner. He said that this is a ‘criminal negligence’ more than an unexpected natural disaster.

Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir are in the grip of severe floods due to increasing water level in Sutlej, Vyas and Ravi rivers and the catchment areas of Sutlej, Vyas and Ravi due to heavy rains. The most affected villages due to floods are Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Fazilka, Kapurthala, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Hoshiarpur and Amritsar districts.

Central Government responsible for floods in Punjab- Water Resources Minister
A total of 11,330 people from flood affected areas have been evacuated to safe places so far with the joint efforts of NDRF, Army, Border Security Force, BSF and District Officers. Many ministers and MLAs are visiting flood affected areas and are taking stock of relief and rescue operations. State Water Resources Minister Goyal blamed the central government for the most severe floods in the last 37 years.

Goyal claimed that the devastation by the Bhakra Beas Management Board in June in June could have reduced the devastation. Millions of people in Punjab are still facing difficulties, but the Prime Minister ‘did not give a single statement on the crisis, leave the matter to give any help to the state’.

Delhi electric vehicle policy 2.0: Changes are now being heard on the streets of Delhi. In the coming days, there is a possibility of removing the sheet of smoke. They are saying this because the new dawn of electric vehicles is going to knock. The Delhi government is going to hold a cabinet meeting on EV (Electric Vehicle) Policy 2.0 today (April 15), where this draft policy will be discussed.

95 percent electric vehicle by 2027
According to government officials, after the approval of the draft, the Transport Department will make it public on its website and seek suggestions from the general public and related stakeholders. Under this new policy, the government aims to have 95 percent of the vehicles registered in Delhi by the year 2027, and by 2030 the figure reached 100 percent.

First EV policy and its effect
Significantly, in the year 2020, the Aam Aadmi Party government had implemented the EV policy for the first time, which was aimed at making 25 percent of the vehicles electric by 2024. However, till now only 9.39 percent of the vehicles in Delhi have been electric.

Attractive subsidy in new policy
Many attractive subsidies are proposed to the public in the new policy. There will be subsidy on buying e-car up to 20 lakh rupees. Along with this, a direct rebate of Rs 30,000 will be given to women who buy 100 e-copy vehicles first to encourage women.

Changes in registration for e-vehicles
An official said, “Under the new policy, only e-addict and e-auto registration will be given priority from next year. Targets will also be set to shift taxi and cab services to electric mode.” Apart from this, there can also be a provision for compensation or subsidy for scrapping old petrol, CNG and diesel vehicles.

Interestingly, it will be made mandatory to have an electric vehicle to register a third vehicle at the same address. This policy will not only clean the air of Delhi, but will also set an example towards adopting EV across the country.