3 min readJalandharAug 11, 2023 08:38 AM IST
First published on: Aug 10, 2023 at 04:12 PM IST
It has been more than a month since the flood hit Punjab, but people in around 25 villages in Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts are still surrounded by flood water in their fields.
The residents of the Shahkot subdivision under Lohian block in Jalandhar and the Sultanpur Lodhi subdivision in Kapurthala are tirelessly placing heavy motors with the help of local authorities and agricultural experts to flush out water from their farmlands and channel it into the river.
Heavy rain inundated around 54 villages in both districts in July second week taking the water level up to 7-8 feet. The villagers had to leave their houses or shift to their rooftops. Though water has receded in the majority of the villages, over two dozen villages have flood water up to 3-4 feet.
In Jalandhar, Rajya Sabha MP and environmentalist Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal is leading the people to install motors so as to clear the flood water which has left their fertile fields submerged for weeks. The presence of stagnant water not only caused severe agricultural losses and displaced people but also led to disease outbreaks, officials said.
In Kapurthala, motors have been placed by the district administration, residents and some social organisations.
Water entered low-lying Bharoana village from the Jalandhar side following a huge breach in Dhussi bandh last month. As it was not easy for the authorities to channel the water back to the bandh, Kapurthala Deputy Commissioner Captain Karnail Singh sourced heavy motors to pump out the water.
Agriculture Development Officer Kapurthala district Jaspal Singh said motors are installed in the low-lying Bharoana, Shekhmange, Sarropwal and Takia villages. He added that farmers and social organisations have also placed their respective motors to pump out water.
“We have even placed motors near Gatta Mandi Kaso village and a 20 horsepower motor near Mandi Cholian that are running continuously. Huge amount of water is pumped out from four pipes towards the riverside,” said Baba Seechewal, adding that draining out water is the only option as neither seepage of water into earth is taking place nor is there any drainage system.
Seechewal’s team is always on alert as the devices, at times, fail due to improper supply of power or other technical reasons.
“We are waiting for the water to be flushed out fully so that we can assess what crop can be grown in the fields. At the moment, heavy sand layer brought by the flood water has laid over the fields,” said farmer Mohinder Singh of Gatta Mandi Kaso, who still has half-a-feet of water in his house.
Another farmer Parampal Singh of Mandi Cholian has demanded a permanent solution for water stagnation as driving out water with motors is time consuming and would not be very effective in case of heavy floods. “We appreciate this effort. For years, we’ve struggled to recover from floods, which are quite frequent in our area,” he said.
The presence of stagnant water not only caused severe agricultural losses and displaced people but also led to disease outbreaks, officials said. (File) 
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