Punjab has been ravaged by floods for the second time in three years. Swollen rivers have inundated areas once considered flood-proof, jolting those who earlier blamed seasonal deluges solely on topography or nature’s fury. The destruction threatens to set back the state’s economy by years. As the waters recede, the stench of rotting crops and carcasses suffocates locals, fertile fields lie under a thick crust of silt, and the fear of disease hangs heavy in the air. The state was battered by floods in 2019, when the Congress was in power, and again in 2023, a year after the Aam Aadmi Party took charge. Then there were extreme rain events such as those of August 2017, when an hour’s downpour left Mohali, Punjab’s education and start-up hub, under chest-deep water. Then, as now, experts spoke of the need for mitigation and prevention.
Talk has, however, rarely translated into action. The riverbeds of the Sutlej, Beas, Ravi and rivulets such as the Ghaggar and Chakki have risen by 5 to 12 feet at several points due to siltation, reducing their water-carrying capacity to a third. Embankments, or dhussi bundhs, are often weak and poorly maintained. The Ravi breached its bundhs at 42 places this year, the highest ever in recorded history. Two gates of the more than a century-old Madhopur barrage were washed away. Rainfall, too, was extraordinary. Punjab experienced its wettest August in 26 years, while the first week of September brought nearly 200 per cent above-normal rainfall. Adding to the strain were the Bhakra, Pong, and Ranjit Sagar dams, pushed to their limits by heavy inflows from Himachal Pradesh, itself battered by torrential rains and cloudbursts.
Climate change is a reality that cannot be wished away. The state, which allowed itself just 17 days to prepare for the monsoon, must do far better. Not long ago, both the Centre and state would call their first flood-prevention meetings in February, with designated officers spending sleepless nights through the season. That culture of early preparation and vigilance has withered. As communities now band together to repair embankments and raise new ones, the government must move beyond firefighting to plugging glaring holes in its flood-prevention strategy. Barrages, sluice gates, and embankments need urgent strengthening, while desilting rivers should become a year-round exercise. The choice is stark: Punjab can either continue spending colossal sums on relief and rehabilitation every few years, or invest a fraction of that in prevention. The damage is not just economic — recurring floods carry a social and emotional cost, fuelling fears that they will only hasten the exodus of young people from the state. As Punjab counts its losses, the lesson is unmistakable — prepare or perish.
