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Punjab: Floodwater recedes, misery surfaces in Doaba villages
With floodwaters receding, the trail of destruction has surfaced in 48 villages of Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts in Punjab’s Doaba region.
With floodwaters receding, the trail of destruction has surfaced in 48 villages of Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts in Punjab’s Doaba region.
Twenty-five houses at Dhakka Basti in Jalandhar’s Gata Mandi Kasu village, which bore the brunt of the 950-ft breach in the Dhussi Bundh on the Sutlej river, were washed away on July 10. Nearly 170 people, most of them women and children from the locality, have been putting up in the flood relief camp at Government Senior Secondary School, Lohian Khas, while men have set up tents near the bundh to secure their belongings and livestock. “I saw my house crumbling in seconds. Now only the rubble remains. All my belongings have been swept away,” says Kartar Kaur, 79, who is staying at the relief camp along with her grandchildren.
Thirty-four villages of Jalandhar district and 14 of Kapurthala district were affected as the water level in the Sutlej rose up to 10 feet. Mandi Cholian, Mandi Sheharian and Dhakka Basti and parts of Yousufpur Darewal village in Jalandhar district are still cut off and being provided ration, food and drinking water through special boats.
Villagers plan relocation
Villagers say they went through a similar ordeal in 2019 when a breach in the Sutlej occurred at Janiyan village.
Joginder Singh, 51, a daily wager, who had a three-marla house at the basti, said he won’t be staying on at Gata Mandi Kasu. “I’m left with only two buffaloes that we managed to rescue. My family, including three children, is left with only clothes they were wearing on the day of the floods,” he said, adding he plans to relocate to another village.
Another resident, Sher Singh, 65, said though his family had taken shelter in the relief camp, he had been putting up in a tent along the bundh to look after his belongings. “It was a nightmare. The village turned into a lake in minutes. Of the 96 houses, 25 were washed away, while others were damaged and are unsafe to live in,” he said.
Bhagwan Singh, 71, of Mandala Chhana village said the stench and slush all around has made conditions worse. “This is the second time in five years that the flood has hit our villages. The government should come up with a permanent solution. It is distressing financially and psychologically. For the first time, my family is dependent on the food and water being provided by the administration and social organisations,” he said.
Hardeep Singh, 30, of Yousufpur Darewal village, where the water level is still at 3-4 feet, said more than 30 houses were cut off after the deluge. “Even now, we are being provided food by villagers with the help of a boat. The connecting road to our village has been washed away. Fodder for our cattle is being brought by boats,” he said.
