Amid Punjab floods, Ravi river washes away 30 km of Indo-Pak border fence

AK Vidyarthi, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of BSF Punjab Frontier confirmed the scale of damage. “In Gurdaspur, nearly 30 to 40 of our border outposts were submerged. We evacuated all men and equipment safely with zero casualties. Around 30 km of fencing has been washed away or damaged in Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Ferozepur sectors,” he said.

Visuals from the flood zone show a family from Shahzada village sheltering inside BSF’s Kamalpur post in Amritsar after personnel vacated it due to rising waters. Even the iconic BSF post near the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor lies under water, forcing jawans to seek refuge at the historic Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Dera Baba Nanak.

“The Ravi river has flooded both sides of the zero line. Even Pakistan Rangers have vacated forward posts,” an official said. While BSF is accustomed to tackling Satluj floods in Ferozepur, officers admitted it has been years since the Ravi hit operations in Gurdaspur and Amritsar so hard.

The Gurdaspur drainage department confirmed 28 breaches in Ravi’s bundhs within the district. “Amritsar has 10–12 breaches, while in Pathankot one major breach — a two-km-long bundh — has been washed away entirely,” said XEN Dilpreet Singh.

Some gaps are as wide as 500 to 1,000 feet, including near Kartarpur Sahib in Dera Baba Nanak sector, right next to BSF establishments. Repair has begun at key points like Makora Pattan and Dera Baba Nanak, but Singh warned: “Just plugging these breaches will take four to six weeks. Full restoration will take even longer.”

Despite the deluge, BSF patrols continue using watercraft. The spokesperson revealed that smugglers tried to exploit the chaos: “One infiltrator was caught while attempting to misuse the situation.”

BSF units have also mounted relief operations. “In Ferozepur, we evacuated 1,500 people, while in Abohar over a thousand villagers and their livestock were shifted. Medical and veterinary camps are running daily to prevent disease outbreaks,” he said.

With water levels stabilizing and a dry weather forecast for the next three days, drainage officials are cautiously optimistic. “Levels in the dams will ease, water will pull back into the river, and only low-lying areas will stay submerged. Within three days, we expect near-normal conditions,” said Singh.

For now, though, the zero line along parts of Punjab lies exposed, a rare view of an unfenced border where the Ravi has reclaimed its ancient course, erasing man-made lines with brute force.

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