Punjab flood man-made disaster: Farmer leaders

Various farmer leaders have termed the floods in Punjab as man-made disaster while accusing the Punjab Government of its failure to take prompt preemptive measures to avoid the calamity.

In Amritsar, the floods caused by the breach in the dhussi bundhs (earthen embankments) in Ramdass area, created havoc and left many families devastated who had to move to safer places leaving their houses and standing crops on approximately 1.5 lakh acres of land suffering losses in crores.

The floodwaters have now reached many villages in Ajnala and Lopoke sub-divisions. Dr Satnam Singh Ajnala, a prominent farmer leader who retired from the Agriculture Department in 2004, said this was beyond doubt that these floods were manmade disaster. He said though the Meteorological Department and experts of Punjab Agricultural University had warned of heavy to very heavy rains in hilly areas around a month ago, the Punjab Government released the water from the Madhopur dam only when it crossed well above the danger level.

Had the government released the water from time to time, it would not have led to the breaches in the earthen embankments and the floods would have been averted. The sudden release of lakhs of cusecs of water has led to the calamity, he pointed out.

Ajnala is also the national president of the Jamhoori Kisan Sabha, besides being a member of the national coordination committee of the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha.

Similarly, Jatinder Singh Chhina of the Kirti Kisan Union pointed out that the Punjab Government ignored the repeated warnings of heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh. He said even after 79 years of Independence, the Punjab Government failed to construct concrete Dhussi Bundhs along the Ravi river and other rivers in Punjab.

He said water in lakhs of cusecs was released by Ranjit Sagar dam into the Ravi, Satluj and Beas rivers that led to flooding in hundreds of villages in Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Kapurthala districts.