Destruction is the lot of farmers in Mand area
Loss, damage and devastation, both natural and man-made, have become a part of the lives of residents, particularly the farmers of about 60 villages of the Mand area drained by the rivers Beas and Sutlej in the district.
Floods caused due to heavy rain or because of water released from the Pong and Bhakhra dams, affect the lives of people here. A few days back, the flow of water was observed to have crossed 2 lakh cusecs against the normal flow of not more than 40,000 cusecs. Both the Beas and the Sutlej rivers cross Tarn Taran district. Harike is the confluence of both the rivers. River Beas enters the district from Bhalojla village and ends at Harike. At the confluence, part of the river water is sent to Rajasthan through the canals and the remaining water is discharged downstream to Harike in the Sutlej river.
From Bhalojla village, river Beas passes through Jalalabad, Verowal Darapur, Verowal Kiri Shahi, Bodal Kiri, Verowal Bawian, Goindwal Sahib, Dhunda, Bhail Dhai Wala, Jauhal Dhai Wala, Karmunwala, Gharka, Chamba Kalan and Mundapind to Harike. A total of 28 villages and crop in about 25,000 acres of land get affected every year. The same is the condition of about 35 villages falling in the area of Sutlej river, from Harike to Muthianwala, where 25,000 acres get affected at the time of floods. This throws the normal life of farmers and others out of gear. A farmer Harpreet Singh of Muthianwala village said that his fields were covered with sand and silt from the river in the 1995 floods which made his land unproductive and it took him years to make the land cultivable again with hard work.
The farmers of Chamba Kalan, Dhunn Dhai Wala and Gharka have become so disheartened that they moved the court, to appeal to the government, stressing on the purchase of their land situated in the Mand area as they have to bear the loss of their crops not once but twice and sometimes thrice too because of heavy rain or the release of of excess water from the Pong dam. The requests of the farmers and the suggestions of the experts to find a permanent solution to the problem has gone unheard. Farmers and experts have been suggesting that the dhussi bundh be strengthened and supervised constantly. The farmers said that it was a fact that the drains which are considered to play an important role at the time of heavy rain or the overflowing rivers, are not cleaned for years together. They also alleged that most of the work relating to strengthening of the river banks is done only on paper. People in the affected area said that if social and religious organisations do not come forward to their rescue, the damage is on a much larger scale.
Residents form committee to check drug peddlers
The residents of ward number 6, Mohalla Nanaksar, Tarn Taran, have come forward to challenge the drug peddlers and addicts. The residents have formed a ‘Shikait Nivaran Committee’ (grievance redressal panel). The residents, in a meeting held in Tarn Taran, constituted a 31-member group for the social work. Mandeep Sharma, who has been elected president of the committee, said the main task of the members is to keep a check on outsiders found guilty of supplying drugs in the locality. He said that the committee members must come forward for help in times of need. The other members of the committee are Bachittar Singh, Surjit Singh, Kashmir Singh and Baldev Singh, among others. (contributed by Gurbaxpuri)
