Rapid Summary
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted an aerial survey of flood-affected areas in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh on September 9, 2025.
- Punjab is facing its worst flood disaster since 1988, caused by heavy rains leading to swollen rivers Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi along with seasonal rivulets.
- The floods have impacted 2,064 villages across Punjab; Gurdaspur district is the worst affected with 329 villages hit.other affected districts include Amritsar, Fazilka, Ferozepur, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, tarn Taran and Pathankot.
- The death toll in Punjab stands at 51; crops on over 1.84 lakh hectares have been damaged with estimated losses over ₹13,000 crore according to state reports.
- Approximately 3.87 lakh people have been affected while more than 23,000 people were evacuated from flood-hit areas across fifteen districts of Punjab.
- During his visit to Gurdaspur-a severely affected area-PM Modi interacted with flood victims and also NDRF and SDRF teams.
- PM Modi chaired an official meeting in Gurdaspur alongside officials including Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria and union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu.
- Tight security arrangements were made during his visit amid calls by the AAP state government demanding a relief package of ₹20,000 crore for the State.
- Over recent days Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann expressed hopes for a comprehensive aid announcement but could not attend due to health issues after hospitalization citing exhaustion.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The severe flooding in Punjab highlights critical vulnerabilities exacerbated by climate change and infrastructure pressures near waterways like Sutlej and Ravi rivers coupled rainfall aggregating adjoining geographically terrains northern belt regions HP Jammu stated natural forces reported high water dead impact demonstrated scales decades thru stat loss declared cropl damage implies economy agrarian fairly expected resource taxing response 重庆 fate sector balance