4 min readJalandharSep 8, 2025 06:26 AM IST
First published on: Sep 8, 2025 at 04:53 AM IST
Punjab’s flood fury this season once again underlines the stark gap between the carrying capacity of its rivers and the actual volumes of water that coursed through them in the last week of August and first week of September. While the Sutlej and Beas systems managed heavy inflows, the Ravi river in particular ran beyond its safe limits—triggering widespread flooding in Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Amritsar and adjoining low-lying areas.
The designed capacity vs the reality
According to a Punjab government report on river de-silting prepared after the 2019 floods, the Sutlej river, which flows for 416 km across the state with an average width of around 1,500 metres, has a designed carrying capacity of two to three lakh cusecs. The Beas, running 136 km with a width of 1,000 metres, also has a capacity in the same range of two to three lakh cusecs. The Ravi, however, is much more modest in scale—222 km long and about 500 metres wide, it can safely handle only 60,000 to one lakh cusecs. Among the smaller systems, the Ghaggar stretches for 165 km with an average width of 150 metres and a capacity of just 31,500 to 42,000 cusecs, while the Chakki rivulet, though only 35 km long and 125 metres wide, is volatile and can take up to 50,000 cusecs.
What happened this season
Data from August-end to September 2025, shows that at Hussainiwala headworks, the Sutlej was carrying around 2.8 to upto 3- lakh cusecs at its peak while before Harike, which is the confluence point of Sutlej and Beas rivers, its maximum flow was 1.64 lakh cusecs in Yusufpur (Gidderpindi) in Jalandhar. Though this was technically within its upper limit, it exerted tremendous pressure on embankments downstream because of the accumulation of silts and sediments but no breach at its Dhussi bandhs except an erosion in Ludhiana could take place this season. The Beas at Shah Nehar downstream recorded flows of around 68,000 cusecs, which was manageable, but its tributary Chakki rivulet swelled to 14,000 to around 20,000 cusecs, causing flash flooding in Pathankot’s Chakki bank region, and then other local seasonal choes also added water into which led its flow upto 2.35 lakh cusecs in Beas near Dhilwa this season. There was a breach on Beas in Hoshiarpur’s Mukerian division but in Kapurthala district no breach was reported on Dhussi bandh.
It was the Ravi that emerged as the epicentre of this year’s devastation. At Madhopur, the river touched 2.22 lakh cusecs—nearly double its maximum carrying capacity of one lakh cusecs. The Ujh river inflows compounded the situation even upto 3 lakh cusecs in Gurdaspur on August 26. This unprecedented discharge overwhelmed the Ravi’s tolerance level, resulting in flooding of fields, villages and road infrastructure in Pathankot, Gurdaspur, and Amritsar and this water has yet to recede even after passive over 10 days. The Ghaggar, meanwhile, carried over 42,000 cusecs at Sardulgarh bridge, staying within its limit of 42,000 cusecs but still high enough to inundate low-lying areas in Patiala district.
Why floods were inevitable
Punjab Water Resources Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal while talking to The Indian Express said that that the water flow in the rivers was unprecedented this year because of the incessant rain in Punjab and Himachal in the past around two weeks. While the Sutlej and Beas were running close to their design thresholds, it was the Ravi that was carrying much more water than its water carrying capacity because of which its water toppled over the banks (Dhussi bandhs). He argues that there is no breach in Sutlej and even a small breach was Beas at one place but in Ravi more than breaches the water overflowed over banks.
“The Ravi has always been the weakest link in Punjab’s river system. Once it crosses one lakh cusecs, villages in Pathankot and Gurdaspur are bound to get affected,” said a senior irrigation official, adding that there is need to raise dhussi bandhs around all rivers particularly Ravi, which gets huge flow while having less water capacity against the other two prenial rivers-Beas and Sutlej.
The Ghaggar carried over 42,000 cusecs at Sardulgarh bridge, staying within its limit of 42,000 cusecs but still high enough to inundate low-lying areas in Patiala district (Express Photo) 
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