Women lead in Punjab flood relief: Embankments to camps & supplies

Across Punjab’s flood-hit districts, thousands of women endure similar conditions but have still stepped out of their homes to help. (Express Photo)

Across Punjab’s flood-hit districts, thousands of women endure similar conditions but have still stepped out of their homes to help. They are the unseen volunteers ferrying medicines to marooned hamlets, setting up kitchens in trolleys, and working shoulder to shoulder with men to hold the flood at bay.

They are also the hygiene warriors. “We formed a small team, raised everything through donations from Chandigarh and Mohali, and took relief to the Ramdas–Ajnala belt,” says Harpuneet Kaur, a law student at Panjab University. “Sanitary pads are the most basic need. Many families didn’t even have undergarments. This is causing UTI issues. Women with severe period pain are unable to manage without hot water or home care.”

Her team now focuses on medical support and cleanliness drives. “Because of waterlogging, fungal infections and allergies are common,” she says, as volunteer doctors consult on the spot. “Rations are reaching big hubs, what’s missing is hygiene. That’s what we’re prioritising now,” says Harpuneet.

Harmel Kaur (left) has turned her trolley into a kitchen; while Kabaddi player Pittu Kottra from Mansa has been using a boat to ferry supplies to Sultanpur Lodhi. (Express Photos)

The massive floods that hit Punjab in mid-August, fuelled by heavy rains and water release from dams upstream, have claimed 48 lives and displaced over 3.54 lakh people, with 21,000 evacuated to relief camps. More than 1,900 villages across all 23 districts have been inundated, submerging 3.71 lakh acres of farmland.

With some respite from rains expected from Monday, the Punjab government has ordered schools across the state, which have remained shut since August 27, to reopen from Tuesday after inspection.

Mansa-based kabaddi player Pittu Kotra started “with just a bag of clothes” and is now leading a convoy of volunteers, taking medicines by boat to homes cut off in Sultanpur Lodhi. “We cannot give up. Punjab lives in the heart, we must come together,” she says.

Singer Baani Sandhu has issued an Instagram appeal for tailors around Mohali to stitch 1,000 salwar suits for displaced women, focusing on dignity and comfort for pregnant women.

Harpuneet Kaur has been distributing sanitary pads and looking after the hygiene needs of those affected by the floods, along with other volunteers. (Express Photo)

Actor Zainab Rajput Sai’s team has spent 10 days distributing essential items, wading through chest-deep water without life jackets. “Many times, boats have no diesel or drivers,” she says. “From the administration, even basic safety gear hasn’t reached us.”

In Gondwana village in Amritsar, a large group of NREGA women workers has mobilised to fill sandbags and reinforce river embankments. Balwinder Kaur, one of them, says the rising water entered her home and damaged her rooftop. She joined the effort not only for employment but also to protect her house. “Community volunteers bring sand, and we fill the bags. These are then deployed along weak points in the bunds,” she says.

With authorities selecting NREGA women workers to fill the bags while locals collectively built up embankments, residents described this initiative as one of the few government-supported measures in the area.

An aerial view of an area partially submerged in floodwater at Ghanaur village, in Patiala district, Punjab, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. (PTI Photo)

Midday meal worker Mohinder Kaur has been on round-the-clock duty at a government-run relief camp at Baupur in Sultanpur Lodhi, coordinating food and water arrangements for women sheltering there, even as she lost her grain to the floods. Stationed at the camp, she oversees meals and supplies. Ensuring dignity and safety for women, she offers sleeping space in her home whenever the camp gets full.

Wherever relief kitchens have sprung up, women are at the core. Many have turned their tractors and trolleys into rolling kitchens, cooking dal and rotis not just for their families but for the other flood-hit and those repairing embankments. At night, these trolleys serve as beds, too.