Dhussi bundh caves in at Kherabet,relief work on

Around seven villages risk being flooded,after a 100 feet long and 18 feet wide portion of the Dhussi bundh along the Sutlej river at Kherabet was washed away on Monday afternoon.

Written by Raakhi Jagga

Kherabet(ludhiana) | September 20, 2011 12:21 AM IST

3 min read

Around seven villages risk being flooded,after a 100 feet long and 18 feet wide portion of the Dhussi bundh along the Sutlej river at Kherabet was washed away on Monday afternoon. It is the same site where the bundh had eroded last year but a lack of funds had hampered repair work then. The villages,however,are safe for now as the water level in the Sutlej is two feet lower than the edge of the slope. To save the villages from flooding,the administration has so far chopped more than 200 fully grown Kikar trees while 400 sand bags have also been placed at the site. A few days ago,emergency repair work worth Rs 18 lakh had been done at the site. The drainage department now says it needs an additional Rs 25 lakh to save the bundh.

Kherabet village Sarpanch Inderjit Singh said, Despite the damage done last year,the department did no permanent work at the same site and instead always reduces our green cover by chopping trees so as to save the eroding bundh. Every year erosion occurs at one or the other point and I am surprised as where the money goes if department is spending it on this site. Similar was the reaction from Kartar Singh a poplar farmer in the village. Drainage department should think of some permanent measures. It is sheer waste of money every year,he said.

The department meanwhile is busy plugging the damage. Executive engineer Gurdial Singh said,Our teams are here and we did not go home even on Sunday night. Permanent works have been done in this area and all those works are well intact. Singh,however,agreed that stone work should have been made at the site which has been washed away today. We did permanent work for about Rs 3 crore at Kherabet,Madhepur and Mattewara while demand was much more. So work was done as per the availability of funds, he said.

Water in the river is fluctuating between 29,000 cusecs to 32,000 cusecs thus increasing erosion along the banks,Singh said. The water will reduce in the coming days and hence we will be able to concentrate more on relief works, Singh added. ADC(D) Pardeep Aggarwal also visited the site on Monday.

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Inderjit Singh Sutlej river