Flood panic grips villages as Beas-Sutlej levels surge

The water level in the Beas and Sutlej rivers rose significantly on Friday, causing panic among flood-affected farmers and local authorities. Thousands of acres of standing crops have remained submerged for over three weeks, leaving no hope for their survival.

Navneet Singh, SDO (Irrigation) said the water level downstream surged to 1.29 lakh cusecs on Friday, up from 90,000 cusecs on Thursday. In the upstream region, the flow reached 1.44 lakh cusecs, compared to 1.05 lakh cusecs the previous day. Both levels have now crossed the danger mark, he added.

Farmers Chainchal Singh, Baldev Singh and Gurjit Singh from the Mundapind area, situated in the upstream region, expressed deep concern, stating that the river water was reaching the top of the river bandh (barrier), creating a constant threat of breach.

Gurjit Singh, who leads volunteers from the Kar Sewa sect (Sarhali), which is actively working to strengthen the Sutlej river embankments near Sabhra village, described the situation as increasingly critical, with the water level crossing the danger mark. He said, “With the river flowing at full force, our volunteers are engaged in round-the-clock monitoring of the situatuon. But strengthening the embankments with sandbags has become increasingly difficult under these conditions.”

Cabinet Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar, who visited the flood-affected areas to distribute cattle fodder and essentials to the people, assured that the state government is fully prepared to handle the situation. “All necessary measures have been taken and the administration is closely monitoring developments. The government is ready to respond to any emergency. There is no need to panic,” he said.