Encroachments coupled with nature’s fury: In Punjab, the worst flood in decades man-made

Last month, the swollen Sutlej created a massive 1200-foot breach in dhussi bandh and flooded three dozen villages in Jalandhar district after colliding with Dhakka Basti, an illegal settlement of 200-odd houses in the midst of the river bed.

It took 10 days for the breach to be plugged with volunteers piling up 30,000 to 40,000 sand bags everyday.
Amarjit Singh Dullet, who retired as Punjab chief engineer (Canals), said that this was a man-made disaster.
“All river land is private land. But at the same time there are rules that say nobody can obstruct the natural flow of water. The encroachments should not have been allowed in the first place. However, there is always political pressure. I remained the longest serving chief engineer, but I had never seen so much damage. It is sad. As much as nature’s fury, we too are responsible,” said Dullet.

An official of the irrigation department concurred. “This was a man-made disaster. The water did not come to those houses. It is the houses that came in way of the river. Had there been no encroachments, there would have been no breach,” said the official requesting anonymity.

As Punjab witnessed one of its worst floods in decades, impacting 11,927 villages across 20 districts and resulting in 65 human fatalities, there is no denying that encroachments were a major contributor to the extensive damage.

In Yusufpur near Lohian, the Sutlej breached the embankment because of an illegal colony on an island (Mand area) where the locals used the 350-feet long spur as a passage to the colony. The colony caused the water to hit the bandh at an angle of 45 degrees, thereby causing a breach.

There were similar human-induced breaches on the Sutlej banks on at least 10 locations, each taking a heavy toll of life and property.

About 150 kilometres away in Patiala, Badhshahpur faced a similar fate due to encroachment on the Ghaggar river.

According to the Department of Water Resources, human encroachment has had a devastating impact on the Ghaggar, which breached the banks at 108 locations in Punjab. The Ghaggar spans 1.5 km as it flows through Panchkula, but its width narrows to 150-200 feet by the time it reaches Sardulgarh. The previous SAD-BJP government (2007-2012) had initiated a plan to acquire private land for widening the river’s width, but the project remains unrealised. Officials noted that during this period, Markanda, Tangri, and Ghaggar experienced heavy flows simultaneously, causing water to accumulate at Sardulgarh. “Preparation is key,” said an official, emphasising the importance of being proactive. Additionally, natural factors played a role, with the Ghaggar inundated with 3 lakh cusecs of water against its capacity of 50,000 cusecs.

Just last week, 40 villages in the Patti sub-division of Tarn Taran were inundated after a breach near Gharum village due to encroachments by private individuals. The breach happened even as State Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar, Principal Secretary (water resources) Krishan Kumar, and then District Commissioner Baldeep Kaur were inspecting embankment strengthening. Krishan Kumar remarked, “A disaster was narrowly averted. With the entire administration, minister, and officials present, we had moved away from the area just before the breach occurred, washing away the entire embankment”.

Encroachments by private individuals along the Beas riverbed led to breaches upstream of Harike. The obstruction and breaches were attributed to these encroachments.

In Hoshiarpuir and Gurdaspur districts, which have suffered due to floods, cultivation of poplar and eucalyptus trees on the land originally belonging to the rivers, is to be blamed for the breaches and damage to the dhussi bandh, which caused flooding in the neighbouring areas.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said that these floods serve as a reminder that natural water passages should not be obstructed. “Nature has shown us how our interference blocked the natural flow of rivers. We must now learn from this experience and take necessary actions,” Mann said.