Chandigarh, Aug. 31 -- Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately release Rs 60,000 crore in pending funds for the state, citing the grave flood situation that has devastated large parts of the state.

In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister, Mann described the disaster as the "most severe natural calamity in decades", which has already affected nearly 1,000 villages and lakhs of people.

The Chief Minister said that heavy rainfall and water released from dams have worsened the situation in Gurdaspur, Kapurthala, Amritsar, Pathankot, Ferozepur, Fazilka, and Hoshiarpur districts. He warned that the crisis could deepen further in the coming days.

According to his assessment, around t...