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One dead as Sutlej wreaks havoc in Jalandhar, Sultanpur Lodhi villages
Within a few hours, the gushing river water severely flooded nearly two dozen villages of Shahkot sub-division in Jalandhar district and 14 villages of Kapurthala district
Following brief breaches the day before, the swollen Sutlej river wreaked havoc in rural parts of Jalandhar and Kapurthala district after two major breaches on the Dhussi Bundh of the river, mainly in Gidarpindi and Nasirpur villages, in the wee hours on Tuesday.
Within a few hours, the gushing river water severely flooded nearly two dozen villages of Shahkot sub-division in Jalandhar district and 14 villages of Kapurthala district.
Panic gripped villagers as four to six feet of water inundated houses and fields.
A 24-year-old motorcyclist was swept away in the strong river current after he attempted to cross a breach near Dhussi Bundh at Gidarpindi.
Locals said they warned the youngster, but he ignored their word of caution and drove through the strong current. While his motorcycle was recovered, rescue teams were still trying to locate him at the time of filing of report.
The Jalandhar district administration immediately pressed in services of the army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) for evacuation of people from affected villages.
The situation continued to remain grim until evening as river water continued to flow into Gidarpindi, Nasirpur, Manak, Bathanawal, Darewal, Khilwal, Tendiwal, Janiyan Chahal, Janiyan, Kotha, Gatta Mundi Kasu, Mandala and Kutbiwal in Jalandhar.
Notably, these villages were hit by floods in 2019 too.
Though the administrative officials claimed that all human population in these villages had been evacuated, villagers fear major loss of livestock.
“We have managed to come out of the water, but our livestock are still stranded in neck-deep water. We have been trying to ask the local administration for help, but no arrangements have been made so far,” said Sher Singh, a resident of Gidarpindi village.
Another villager Arshpreet Singh said they were carrying out strengthening of Dhussi Bundh embankments till midnight, but the situation deteriorated as a major breach occurred around 1.30 am on Tuesday morning: “Within hours, the breach widened to nearly 100 feet.”
Meanwhile, Jalandhar deputy commissioner Vishesh Sarangal said they were reaching out to people living close to Dhussi Bandh and had urged them to share maximum information about those still stuck in the flood water for earliest rescue.
“We are urging people living near the river bank not to take the situation lightly and move to safer places until water recedes. Multiple teams of NDRF, SDRF and army have already been roped in to ensure the safety of people. We are also carrying out drone surveillance in the affected villages,” he said.
The DC added once the rescue operation was over, they will make efforts to plug the breaches as the flow of water from the river downstream had lowered and they were hopeful that the condition will improve soon.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Mukhwinder Singh Bhullar said over 200 people stranded in the water had been safely rescued and the rescue operation was still on.
Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha member and environmentalist Balbir Singh Seechewal, along with locals from several villages, started individual efforts to plug the breaches by using sand bags.
“The main breach is widening by the hour. Instead of waiting for the administration, we launched our operation as water needs to be stopped from entering into fields,” said Seechewal, whose village is nearly 14 km away from the site.
In Kapurthala, as many as 14 villages of Sultanpur Lodhi sub-division were also flooded due to the breach near Dhussi Bundh.
Deputy commissioner Captain Karnail Singh urged people of villages Takia, Mand Inderpur, Bharowana, Ahli kalan, Ahli Khurd, Jgugian Gammu, Chananwindi, Wattan Wali, Sheikh Manga, Sherpur, Saroop Wala, Suchaigarh, Rame, Shah Wala and Mand Andrisa to move to eight flood relief camps before army and NDRF carry out the evacuation process.
