The ruling Congress and the opposition Akali Dal indulged in blame game over Bathinda remaining inundated with waist-deep water despite no rain in the town on Wednesday.
Union Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal asked Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to sack Finance Minister Manpreet Badal over the "flood situation".
The three-time SAD MP from Bathinda alleged Manpreet was responsible for the flooding in Bathinda "because he stopped sludge carrier line work aimed at doubling the capacity to drain out water from low lying areas, withholding funds to the municipal corporation and even diverting corporation funds to the Improvement Trust".
She said 4 km of the 12-km-long sludge carrier line was completed during the SAD-BJP government but "it has not been increased by an one inch during the more than two years of Congress rule".
She further claimed Manpreet did not release funds for repair of motors and cleaning of sewerage lines.
In a statement here, Harsimrat said, "The municipal corporation was due to receive Rs 16 crore from pending funds of the Central Urban Renewal Mission but even these funds were denied to the corporation and instead given to the Improvement Trust by the finance minister.
"This has compounded the problem of water logging in the city and resulted in unprecedented flooding in various areas."
Harsimrat said the Centre had been apprised about the water logging situation in the city.
Senior Congress leader Raj Kumar Verka hit back at Harsimrat, claiming the previous Akali regime's tall claims regarding development of Bathinda constituency had fallen flat.
"Just 2-3 days of heavy rain has drowned their development claims," the Congress legislator said.
Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management Minister Gurpreet Singh Kangar, however, said necessary arrangements had been made to deal with the water-logging problem.
He said deputy commissioners across the state, not just in Bathinda, have been asked to remain alert and provide all kind of assistance to the affected people.
The weather remained generally dry in most parts of Punjab on Wednesday, however many parts of the state received heavy rains during the last few days.
Normal life in Bathinda has been hit since yesterday due to stagnant water, forcing closure of schools and other establishments, officials said.
Many areas in the town are inundated with waist-deep water.
Official residences of the Bathinda IGP and the district and sessions judge were inundated and valuable household articles had to be moved out from there.
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