Desilting under Gidderpindi bridge begins

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, June 28

The government has started removing the soil gathered under the Gidderpindi railway bridge. A total of 25 tippers and two excavator machines have been pressed into service for the job.

Rajya Sabha member and environmentalist Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal had been demanding the removal of soil from under the bridge.

Notably, the previous spell of heavy rainfall in the state wreaked havoc in several areas of Gidderpindi, Nakodar, Shahkot and Kapurthala as the heavy silt deposited on the foot of the girders of the bridge prevented smooth flow of water and caused it to flow at a much higher mark than ideal. As a result, water seeped into river-side villages causing much damage to the villages.

In a meeting held under the chairmanship of Environment Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer on June 12, the issue of soil removal from under the Giddarpindi railway bridge was also discussed. The meeting was held in reference to the letter written by Seechewal to the Chief Minister. Today, Rajya Sabha member Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal and Lok Sabha MP Shushil Rinku inspected the work of removal of soil from under the Gidderpindi railway bridge, built on Sutlej.

Amarinder Singh Pandher, XEN, Drainage Department, said the government has started the soil extraction work only after the tender for soil extraction was floated on June 23.

He said MP Balbir Singh Seechewal, MP Sushil Kumar Rinku, Nakodar MLA Bibi Inderjit Kaur, Dharamkot Constituency MLA Devinderjit Singh Ladi and other officials of the department visited the Gidderpindi bridge. People of the area also demanded to remove the soil from under the bridge.

Flood Prevention Committee president Kulwinder Singh said work should be carried out day and night as the monsoon season has started.

Dushant Chaudhary, official of the company which took the contract for soil extraction, said around 25 tippers and two excavator machines are plying daily to extract soil. He said soon more machines will be arranged to speed up the work and the number of tippers is also being increased daily.

Seechewal said the need of the hour is to clean all the rivers of Punjab. He said during 2019 floods, the state government had to bear a loss of around Rs 1,200 crore. He added that during the karsewa in the year 2020, the flow of Sutlej was changed with the support of the devotees. He thanked the CM for paying attention to the cleanliness of canal water and rivers.

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