Mohali admn breaks illegal dam on SYL to save agricultural land of 4 villages

The treated sewage water overflowing from the dam at Sotal village, district Kharar had ruined crops in the four low-lying villages

Swiftly acting on directions of deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan, the district administration on Thursday punctured an illegal dam with the help of poclain machine, near Sotal village, tehsil Kharar. The dam had been constructed on SYL canal a few months ago, and the action was aimed at bringing respite to the villages suffering the ill effects of the dam.

Treated sewage water from Kharar had been collecting in SYL canal for many years, and after the illegal dam was built, the overflowing water was damaging agricultural land in four low-lying villages (HT PHOTO)

With this, a seven-day political commotion over treated sewage water flowing into fields of four villages came to an end. The sewage water had been overflowing into fields due to the illegal dam on SYL canal near Kharar. The dam has now been breached allowing the treated water to remain in the canal.

The overflowing water as a result of the dam had been draining into Jainti Ki Rao village and destroying the crop in low-lying agricultural land in villages of Shergarh Barha, Kajal Majra, Main Majri and Nandpur Kalaur. The villagers of these four villages had been pressing the administrations of Mohali and Fatehgarh Sahib for a solution to stop the flow of water from the sewage treatment plant in Kharar into their fields

Mohali administration teams had been stationed on the banks of SYL over the past 7 days, but political intervention had placed restrictions on the breaking of the illegal dam.

Explaining the issue, Dayalan said that treated sewage water from Kharar had been collecting in SYL canal for many years. When residents of villages nearby constructed an illegal dam near village Sotal, the overflowing water was diverted into Jainti Ki Rao.

In the presence of three duty magistrates under acting SDM Kharar Major Gurjinder Singh Benipal and a police party led by DSP Kulbhushan , workers cracked the illegal dam with a poclain machine near village Sotal. Also in attendance were tehsildar Kharar Mandeep Singh Dhillon, naib tehsildar Mohali Gurpreet Singh Dhillon and naib tehsildar Kharar Mandeep Singh Sidhu.