category Regional, chandigarh, , tags Regional, chandigarh, , DW BUREAU Chandigarh The Punjab Cabinet on Saturday gave its nod for conducting a special girdawari (field inspection) by August 15 to assess the damage caused by the recent floods even as the state government pegged the estimated loss at Rs 1,500 crore. The decision was taken by the council of ministers in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann here, according to an official statement. Several districts of Punjab and Haryana were battered by a heavy downpour that left normal life paralysed and flooded vast tracts of residential and agricultural land. After the cabinet meeting, Punjab Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian said the floods caused the estimated loss of worth Rs 1,500 crore to the state, though the exact amount was yet to be assessed. A total of 1,495 villages in 19 districts of Punjab were affected by the heavy rain and floods whit at least 44 people losing their lives and 22 sustaining injuries, said an official release. As many as 391 houses were fully damaged and 878 partially. More than 1,200 flood-hit persons were still staying in 159 relief camps, it said. (editor dailyworld.in)