Only poll promises, no solution to mitigate suffering of villagers

Aman Sood
Tribune News Service
Patiala, April 22

“Ghaggar is the biggest poll issue for us. None of the leaders in the city has ever bothered about us after winning the elections. We have been looking up to the state government for a solution to the problem from past over two decades,” say residents living alongside the Ghaggar. 

They now call it a “river of sorrow” and the issue is again to haunt leaders across party lines. Politicians – irrespective of the party affiliations – have been milking the issue of floods and pollution by the Ghaggar to fight electoral battles in the Patiala constituency from the past almost two decades without offering any permanent solution to floods and pollution till date. 

With the parliamentary elections again round the corner, politicians are back to their best, including a sling of promises on the Ghaggar. 

Besides floods, villages alongside the Ghaggar are the new address for cancer. Almost every second village has many cancer patients.  The Ghaggar originates in Himachal Pradesh and flows from Punjab and Haryana into Rajasthan.

Floods in the Ghaggar have been bringing misery to lakhs of people almost every rainy season in the region. “We have done our best by taking the matter to the Supreme Court. From the past some time, work is going on to widen and strengthen its banks to ensure that floods can be controlled,” says Surjit Singh Rakhra, SAD candidate for the coming poll. 

“We are committed for resolving this issue forever and for that we need a strong government at the Centre,” he tells electorate during his tour to Shutrana, a constituency affected by the Ghaggar.

In the 1998 parliamentary elections, the SAD candidate, Prem Singh Chandumajra, gave the slogan: “Tussi Congress chuk deo, te main Ghaggar chuk dun” (you vote out the Congress and I will remove the Ghaggar). The slogan clicked and Chandumajra won. But the problem is still there.

The current battle for ballot is no different from the earlier ones with both the SAD and the Congress passing the buck when it comes to taming the Ghaggar fury. 

In the past decade, crores of rupees have been paid as compensation to the people, who suffered damages. The losses are more than the compensation paid.

 The Congress candidate from Patiala, Preneet Kaur, has claimed many times that she had brought funds from Centre and Rs 148 crore project to tame the Ghaggar. 

“However, during the 10-year rule of the previous Akali government, nothing was done to save villages, which continue to suffer damage to life and property due to floods every year,” Preneet tells villagers in Ghanaur.

Incumbent MP, Dr Dharamvira Gandhi, is also facing the wrath of villagers affected by the Ghaggar, who claim that he did nothing to help them. In his defense, Dr Gandhi, accuses Preneet Kaur and the SAD government in Punjab for misleading people on the Ghaggar issue.

“Even as politicians enter verbal duel, villagers alongside the Ghaggar live in constant fear of floods and worst the pollution. Our villages are witnessing untimely deaths due to cancer and pollutants flowing in the Ghaggar. We are drinking polluted water. Even our food chain is now full of chemicals,” says Dr Gandhi.

“To stop devastation in its area, Haryana has constructed a toe wall on the 4 km stretch from where the Ghaggar flows into state. Every monsoon we suffer losses to life and property while pollution is killing us slowly throughout the year,” says Amandeep Singh from Hashampur Mangta, a tail-end village.

Problem getting worse by the day 

Despite promises by successive state governments, there has been no solution to problems related to the Ghaggar. However, the situation has now turned from bad to worse as earlier the Ghaggar brought floods and now pollutants flow freely in the river that touches almost three constituencies of Patiala, where it causes maximum damage. Both the SAD and the Congress pass the buck when it comes to taming the Ghaggar fury.