Sutlej Water wreak havoc in border villages

Ferozepur, July 12, 2023: More than three dozen villages situated along Sutlej have been completely submerged. The most critical situation is at Village Kaluwala which is situated just few meters away from the international border. Notably Village Kaluwala is covered three sides with Sutlej and one side from Pakistan.

Adding to the woes of the poor village folks, there has been no electricity in village besides the availability of drinking water is also a challenge as most of the hand pumps have also been submerged.  Out of around 60 families residing in this village, many of them have taken shelter at the government primary school located in the village.

Several other villages including Tendiwala, Kamalwala, Pachharian, Pritam Singh Wala, Darveshe ke, Bhamma Singh Wala, Palla Megha, Nihala Kilcha besides others have been inundated due to heavy flow of water in the river. 
Though the situation is presently under control but hundreds of acres of agricultural land has already been submerged due to which standing crops of maize and paddy, have also been reportedly damaged, and the danger of flooding is looming large over the residents of these villages.

Few farmers are also concerned about their fields, crops and the agricultural equipments which are lying in their fields. At Village Dona Mathar, around fifty farmers put their lives in danger and went to see their fields with the help of a wooden bera. Due to heavy discharge of water, the “bera” lost its control and started flowing towards Pakistan. Somehow, the “boat” was controlled and their lives were saved.

Around 25 villages in Makhu, a rural town in the Zira sub-division of Fazilka, including Manu Machi, as well as crops in about 20 villages near the Ferozepur-Mallanwala road, were reportedly flooded.

DC Rajesh Dhiman said that although around 2.19 lakh cusecs of water has passed through the Harikee headworks in the last 24 hours, the majority of the area has not experienced significant losses in terms of human or livestock casualties.

Meanwhile, the district administration has setup 15 relief camps in the district at various places.