Punjab: Farmers, Opposition leaders block NH ; seek release of downstream water

The MLAs of Opposition parties along with villagers from flood-affected areas staged a protest and blocked the national highway on Amritsar-Bathinda road at Harike headworks

The MLAs of Opposition parties along with villagers from flood-affected areas staged a protest and blocked the national highway on Amritsar-Bathinda road at Harike headworks on Friday.

The farmers said they have already suffered a lot due to inundated fields. (HT Photo)

Accompanied by independent MLA from Sultanpur Lodhi, Rana Inder Partap Singh and Congress MLA from Shahkot, Herdev Singh Laddi Sherowalia, the villagers residing in the Mand area asked the irrigation department to release water downstream from Harike headworks to bring down water level in Beas river, which is presently flowing in full spate.

The swollen Beas inundated as many as 14 villages submerging vast tracts of agricultural land in the Mand area of Sultanpur Lodhi of Kapurthala district on Thursday. The area located between Beas and Dhussi Bundh remained largely affected as the water submerged agricultural land of the villages mainly Sangra, Mand Mubarakpur, Muhammadabad, Baupur Kadim, Baupur Jadid, Rampur Gura, Mand Bandu Jadid, Bhaini Karim Baksh and Bhaini Bahadur, where also the administration has issued advisory to local villagers to stay alert in case of water level rises.

Meanwhile, Sultanpur Lodhi MLA Rana Inder Partap Singh said they have been continuously asking the senior officials of irrigation department to for not halting flow of water at Harike Headworks as Beas water is entering Mand area with immense pressure due to which the temporary Bundhs have been completely damaged. “The floods in the Doaba region due to in spate Sutlej and Beas river are caused due to disastrous decisions taken by the irrigation department. Instead of stopping water at headworks, the department should have release the water downstreams,” he said. He added that nearly 4.25 lakh cusecs of water has been released into Beas and Sutlej from Pong and Bhakra dams respectively but only 2.75 lakh cusecs of water was further released downstream from Harike. “The farmers have already suffered a lot due to inundated fields. They can only be saved if 1.25 lakh cusecs water is released downstream from Harike,” he said.