Receding floodwaters leave behind slush in villages

Receding floodwaters have left behind slush in villages and houses, causing extreme difficulty to the dwellers.

Returning to their houses, the major task at the hands of these people is to remove the slush from the houses and make it conducive for living as these had been abandoned in the wake of floodwaters entering the same.

The major concern of Balkar Singh of Pandori village, one of the worst-affected villages in Ajnala, was to remove ‘gara’ (slush) from the open area in front of the house and even some rooms to felicitate the return of his six-member family. Even after days of struggle to clear the entire house of the sticky mud it still remains visible. The stored clothes, including woollens and beddings, have got soiled as the floodwater made way out of the village.

At many places people used tractors to remove the slush from their houses, while those who do not have any other mean used certain tools to remove it.

Davinderjit Kaur of Darya Musa said they were not bothered about meals as they were daily getting these from volunteers. So, her entire family picked up spades and containers to remove ankle-high slush accumulated in her house, slowing down mobility in the village.

Natives of Singhoke, Nisoke, Jattan Pashiya, Gaggar and other villages demand removal of slush from the streets to facilitate easy movement. They said machines like tractors and JCBs should be used for its removal.

Dilbagh Singh, executive engineer of the PWD, said that they were cleaning village roads, besides drains and small bridges in Ajnala. While officials of the Mandi Board said damaged roads falling in their jurisdiction had been restored and slush on these had also been removed.

When contacted, Deputy Commissioner, Sakshi Sawhney said, “There will be a cleanliness drive in all villages. At present they are removing the silt from farmland on a war-footing. JCBs and mud loaders are being used to desilt the land of small and marginal farmers so that they could go for the next crop.”