Machines deployed at Ghaggar embankment at Dera Bassi

Earth-moving machines have been deployed and filling of sandbags by MGNREGA workers has started to strengthen the Tiwana embankment as the water level in the Ghaggar continues to rise in Dera Bassi.

The administration and police officials have been instructed to keep a round-the-clock watch over the situation. Landowners and farmers, who can provide tractors, trailers or other equipment, have been asked to come forward.

The officials said the embankments across the Dera Bassi constituency will be further strengthened.

Dera Bassi MLA Kuljeet Singh Randhawa today visited the Tiwana embankment along with senior officials to review the situation. He assured the residents that the administration was fully alert and prepared to tackle any emergency.

The MLA also reviewed the condition of the dam and water flow of Ghaggar near Amalala and Panj Grami villages. He assured the villagers that the administration would take necessary measures in time. He also visited the Mubarakpur-Dhakoli causeway.

Special girdawari

A special girdawari (crop loss assessment) will be conducted in Sarseeni, Sadhanpur, and Khajur Mandi villages, where overflowing water damaged standing crops recently. The matter of providing compensation to flood-affected people from the Special Relief Fund will be taken up with Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann.

MLA meets kin of farmer who drowned in rivulet

Dera Bassi MLA Randhawa visited Lalru to meet the family of farmer Janak Raj, who was swept away in the Jharmal rivulet two days ago. Randhawa expressed his condolences to the bereaved family and assured them of due financial assistance from the government. He said efforts would be made to provide employment on compassionate grounds to an eligible member of the family.

Dehar-Alamgir-Tiwana link embankment a key point

The Dehar-Alamgir-Tiwana link embankment is a crucial point for many villages located alongside the Ghaggar in Dera Bassi. On August 29, water was flowing above this embankment but it remained intact. A 4,500-foot-wide breach at this embankment in 2023 had caused widespread damage, after which it was fortified.

Punjab Water Resources Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal, while responding to the motion moved by the Dera Bassi MLA in the Assembly on July 15, had stated that Rs 10 crore had been spent on the strengthening of this embankment.

The department had proposed to widen the Ghaggar near Tiwana village and strengthen its embankments.

Experts say the water level in the river had increased significantly at the village after the heavy rain in 2023, flooding the cultivable lands on the left side. Also, erosion had resulted in the land level getting lower by about 10 feet, after which the department had put up stone revetments and studs on a 2,500-foot length to protect the cultivable land from further erosion. A bundh was also built by putting soil behind it which got eroded at some places.