Chandigarh, Sep 21 (NationPress) Punjab Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Sunil Jakhar criticized the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government, attributing the state's flood situation to its mismanagement.

He urged for an investigation into the floods by a retired judge.

Jakhar informed the media that a complaint has been filed with the Chandigarh Police to address the misinformation circulating on social media that falsely blames the Central government for the floods.

"The complaint aims to unveil those responsible for spreading these rumors," he asserted.

The BJP leader emphasized that the Punjab government called for the Assembly session merely to distract from the pressing issue at hand.

He suggested that the inquiry should investigate: the volume of water released from each dam during the floods, the timeline of dam repairs, and the contractor responsible for safety inspections of the headworks.

Presenting evidence, State BJP Chief Jakhar pointed out that the severe destruction was primarily due to the Ravi river, where excess water flowed from the Ranjit Sagar dam.

He clarified that the Ranjit Sagar dam is fully managed by the state government and has no ties to the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) or the Central government.

Despite severe rainfall warnings in the Ravi catchment area from August 20 to 26, minimal water was released from the dam, with the government reporting a release of 2.75 lakh cusecs on August 27.

Additionally, he shared a video featuring the Chief Engineer's statement, claiming that 4.70 lakh cusecs of water came through small rivulets downstream of Shahpur Kandi.

However, Jakhar contested that no other rivers or rivulets between the Ranjit Sagar dam and the Madhopur headworks could have contributed such a large volume of water.

He questioned why the gates at the Madhopur headworks were not opened in advance following the warnings before the floodwaters arrived.

Jakhar also mentioned that 45 embankments were breached during the flooding, with 42 of them along the Ravi river, where the dam is entirely under the state's jurisdiction.

Moreover, he expressed concern that the company "Level 9," awarded the contract for inspecting the safety of the Madhopur headworks gates, lacked experience in hydrological sciences and primarily focused on social sciences research.

He argued that the government cannot absolve itself of responsibility by merely suspending a few lower-level officials, as it was accountable for awarding such contracts in the first place.

He noted that the state has 1,000 km of riverside embankments and 800 km of drainage channels, yet the Punjab government failed to maintain the drains or reinforce the riverbanks in a timely manner.