Seven breaches in Sutlej banks not yet plugged in Jalandhar, Sultanpur Lodhi districts
Out of total nine breaches in Jalandhar, four have been plugged. Work is under way at Jania Chahal in Shahkot, which at 500 feet, is the widest breach and will take about four more days to be repaired completely.
It has been 10 days since the Sutlej river breached its banks in several places in Punjab, flooding 64 villages in Sultanpur Lodhi, 31 villages in Phillaur and 23 in Shahkot, but the administration is yet to begin plugging three breaches in Sultanpur Lodhi and four in Shahkot, sub-division of Jalandhar.
Out of total nine breaches in Jalandhar, four have been plugged. Work is under way at Jania Chahal in Shahkot, which at 500 feet, is the widest breach and will take about four more days to be repaired completely.
Breaches at Gata, Mandi Kasu, Mandala, Nall village in Shahkot sub-division and Sarupwal, Tibbi and Bhaoana village in Sultanpur Lodhi are yet to be plugged. The administration is waiting for the water level to decline to locate the specific breaches, said a senior administration officer. Although they have sought help from the army, officials say it will still take a week to plug all breaches as the flow of water is still fast.
Water has started receding in most villages as the river has changed its course. The declining water levels has made it easier for sanitation teams, which have been formed in each village under supervision of executive officers, to ensure thorough cleanliness for prevention of any outbreak, said deputy commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma. The plastic waste, mud and vegetation brought by floodwater is being cleaned up by sanitation teams, while fogging is being done in these villages twice a day over the past few days. The DC said the remaining breaches will be tackled with soon, saying as receding water has enabled teams to perform their specific tasks.
Kapurthala deputy commissioner DPS Kharbanda said with the declining water level, work on breaches will begin in a day or two.
The Jalandhar administration has permanently stationed two water-testing vans to check the quality of water being supplied by tankers. As part of the drive to provide fodder for animals, 200 quintal silage for animals was provided in flood-affected villages via tractors and trolleys.
Meanwhile, crops on more than 45,000 acres of land, including 30,000 acres in Shahkot, are submerged and in Phillaur sub-division, submerging crops on 11,000 acres across 31 villages were affected with the river water and farmers are expecting complete crop loss as the water is still in the fields.
150 acres flooded due to breach in a canal at Ferozepur
As many as 150 acres of agricultural land besides some residential areas of a village in Ferozepur have been flooded following a 20-feet wide breach on Thursday morning. However, local administration managed to plug the gap which averted a major loss.
At 7.30 am, due to a 20-feet-wide breach in the Gang canal at village Luther led water to come gushing into agricultural fields and some houses. A local administration team led by local deputy commissioner, Chander Gaind, managed to plug the breach by afternoon, while the canal department diverted the flow of the water to the east canal which helped to quickly seal the breach.
The deputy commissioner assured villagers that the state government would compensate them for the loss of their property and crops.
