Resilient Panjab Fights Back Floods, Horrors Yet to Unfold

In the absence of the Indian union government’s support and in the face of a largely absent state govt, the people of Panjab have been fighting the floods on their own. The scale of effort and hard work is huge. For example in Sultanpur Lodhi's Mand area farmers joined hands to protect their crop on 4.2K acres of land by raising temporary bundhs (embankments). The farmers made an eight-km-long bundh along Baja village. Devastating floods in villages along Beas in 2023 had prompted these farmers to desilt their fields and construct embankments on their own. However as the waters rose up to 8-10 feet, many embankments broke and efforts were made in either arranging boats to rescue people or deliver rations to people stuck in their homes and fodder for cattle. Many in Amritsar district refused to leave their homes for fear of displacement and robbery. In Gurdaspur, the Indian army and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) led efforts to rescue people. In Ferozepur and Fazilka the huge increase of water at the Harike Barrage—because gates were closed and water was not released to Rajasthan—left many villages cut off. Over 2K people and 8K livestock were rescued. On 1 Sep, farmer union Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee claimed they had forced the gates to be opened. Meanwhile, villages in Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar and Patiala districts have been placed on heavy alert after the river Ghaggar River crossed the 10-foot danger mark at Bhankarpur. This follows heavy rainfall in its catchment area and the opening of floodgates at Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh. There has been a huge effort on the part of the Panjabi community in Panjab, Inspora (outside Panjab in India), and the diaspora in sending relief material. However, the floods are on and the real horror of the devastation would be visible only when the rains stop and water recedes.