Punjab cabinet minister Aman Arora on Monday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce a relief package of at least Rs 20,000 crore for the flood-ravaged state during his visit.

PM Modi will visit Punjab on September 9 to take stock of the flood situation.

“Even though the PM has not uttered a word yet for the flood-hit Punjab, he is our PM and I welcome him with folded hands for his visit.I also expect that he should be seen standing by Punjab during his visit,” Arora told reporters here.

Expressing solidarity with the flood victims of the state, the officers of the PCS (EB) branch have decided to contribute one day’s salary to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.

This decision was taken during a meeting of the PCS (EB) Officers’ Association held here on Friday.

Hundreds of villages in Punjab along the swollen Satluj, Beas, and Ravi rivers were flooded on Wednesday, severely affecting life and damaging crops after the floodgates of the Bhakra and Pong dams were opened. The inflow into these reservoirs had alarmingly increased due to torrential rains in their catchment areas, mainly Himachal Pradesh.

Rescue and evacuation of people are currently underway by teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). The worst-affected districts are Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Fazilka, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar.

Authorities, however, said the inflow in the reservoirs declined significantly compared to Tuesday, with the decline in the rainfall activity.

The flood gates of both dams, which serve the irrigation requirements of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, were opened to lower the reservoir level.

With the opening of the floodgates, a flood-like situation prevailed mainly in Punjab’s Ropar, Anandpur Sahib and Hoshiarpur districts and Himachal’s Kangra district.

The Punjab government has decided to shut down schools for four days, beginning Wednesday, due to heavy rains and flood threat.