Beas floods villages in Mand area

Farmer Harbans Singh said his fields were under two to three feet of water for the past two days. “More than half of my crop has been damaged,” he said.

Another farmer Gurmail Singh added,“Until the water is drained,we cannot calculate our losses.”

“We were happy because of good weather this year,but now our dreams have been shattered,” said farmers Ranjit Singh and Darbara Singh.

Sultanpur Lodhi subdivisional magistrate Kuldip Singh Chandi said he had visited the area. He said the extent of damage would be known only after the water recedes from the fields. The heavy flow in the Beas for the past two days has flooded low-lying fields,he explained.

Mand is an island in the Doaba region which is surrounded by the Beas river. The people of a dozen villages in the area are engaged in farming across 4,000 acres. During the rainy season,they get cut off from the rest of Kapurthala district because a pontoon bridge (temporary bridge) — which was built as recently as 2011 — is removed. Without the pontoon bridge for about three months of the year,the residents travel to the mainland by boat.