After decades, Sutlej makes inroads into Kapurthala dist
Aparna Banerji
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, September 16
It is after a span of a decade that waters of the Sutlej entered Kapurthala district and caused huge devastation. While Kapurthala and Sultanpur Lodhi have traditionally been threatened by the Beas, it is after three decades that the Sutlej made inroads as much as 10 to 15 km in-stream, breaching the entire southern end of Sultanpur Lodhi.
Its also been a decade since the Sutlej flooded a village of Kapurthala the last time. However, it is for the very first time that the village was affected with groundwater contamination. The administration and residents say the floods have had a long-lasting impact on the demography of the area and the groundwater.
The entire southern belt of Sultanpur Lodhi, which was miles away from the Sutlej (which doesn’t even pass from Kapurthala) and previously dry ground, has now been affected by its water.
Gurmeet Singh, a farmer of the Sheikh Manga village, said: “The river flooded some of the area in 2008 but neither did it dirty the groundwater nor did it move in so farther into Sultanpur Lodhi. The last time, devastation of this level was seen was in the floods of 1988. The non-repair of the Gidderpindi bridge is primarily to blame for the devastation. Of the 60 feet pillars, only the top shows. The water was earlier several feet below the bandh but this time, it has reached the ground. Chitti Bein is the dumping ground for toxic wastes across industries. Now, it has destroyed our groundwater.”
Sarwan Singh, a farmer at Baupur village in Kapurthala, said, “While devastation from the Beas was a regular affair, the Sutlej entered into the area after a span of 35 years. The Sutlej last entered into Kapurthala in the 1988 and 1994 floods. It seems that the surface and groundwater of these villages has been altered irrevocably. The Chitti Bein has never entered our villages. The Gidderpindi and Jania/Mandala breaches have devastated our area. For ages, soil and silt deposits at the Gidderpindi bridge were a cause of concern and villagers kept raising alarm but the government did nothing. Now, we are left to grapple with a threat to our very existence.” The Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Kapurthala, DPS Kharbanda, said, “The Sutlej floods have altered the demography of the district. At several villages, land that was previously dry has now been riddled with ponds and quagmires. The river has come in-stream as much as 10 to 15 km. Months ago, we couldn’t have thought that water from villages such as Suchetgarh, Watnawali Kalan, Mand Indressa, Tibbi and Bharoana will have entered but the breach at Jania and Gidderpindi caused water to come in-stream and the land at many villages has been altered forever. On the top of it, the proximity of the polluted Chitti Bein to the area has caused toxic water to enter the groundwater, affecting the groundwater across these villages.”
While the Centre has also sought a report on affect to the groundwater of many of these villages, the DC said this was also the reason why compensation for three crops seasons (instead of one) had been sought by the district administration.
