Five families of Kot Budha return home after two weeks

All five families from Kot Budha village have returned to their homes near the Sutlej river after spending over two weeks away during the peak of the recent floods.

Amit Bhasin, an officer in the local revenue department, reported that, so far, 73 villages in the district have been affected by the floods and crops on an estimated 33,000 acres have been destroyed. Kot Budha, a border village, was among the worst hit by the deluge.

Ranjit Singh, Sarpanch of the village, said of the total 5,900 acres in the village, 900 acres of land have been affected with crops remaining submerged in water for more than 35 days.

Although the water level in the Sutlej has since receded, there is no hope of salvaging the damaged crops.

Singh explained that during the height of the floods, five families living in the interior riverine areas were relocated to a safer place. Families of Desa Singh, Salwinder Singh, Baj Singh, Sahib Singh and Dulla Singh have now returned to their homes.

He further noted that a total of 85 families in the village have been affected by the floods. Of these, 40 families have suffered complete crop loss, while 45 families experienced partial damage.

Desa Singh and his son, Jatinder Singh, said that this is the second time they have faced such devastation, the first being the 2023 floods. They had been hoping for a bumper paddy harvest this season due to favourable weather conditions, but the floods dashed those hopes once again.

“We have lost everything, the crops, green and dry fodder, and even our food rations," they said. “We are starting our lives from scratch and hoping for compensation from the state and central governments,”

urged the father-son duo.

With hopes pinned on government assistance and community resilience, villagers like Desa Singh and Jatinder Singh remain determined to overcome the devastation — holding on to the belief that better days lie ahead.