Jalandhar: Frequent floods trigger exodus of youth from Shahkot villages

Avneet Kaur

Jalandhar, July 22

The idyllic villages of Shahkot — Mundi Chohlian, Mundi Shehrian and Mandala Chhana — face devastating floods almost every year. As a result, farmers are selling their ancestral land and homes.

In Mundi Chohlian, over 60 youngsters have gone abroad after their parents sold land to fund their journeys.

Shockingly, around 90 per cent of these migrations have occurred through illegal means, costing each youngster approximately Rs 30 to Rs 35 lakh.

Mundi Shehrian and Mandala Chhana share a similar fate, with around 25 youngsters from these villages also leaving for foreign shores in the last two years.

Kulwinder Singh, who has been teaching maths at Government Middle School, Mundi Chohlian, for the past 27 years, said, “Every second or third year, the residents face devastation caused by floods.”

“Farmers in these villages struggle for survival due to extensive crop losses due to floods and untimely rain, rendering their land infertile. Consequently, they are reluctant to let their children pursue farming and are opting to sell their land to send their children abroad,” he said, adding that many of the youngsters he taught in the school have migrated abroad through illegal means.

Mal Singh, a 62-year-old farmer from Mundi Chohlian, shared his distressing experience of selling his two acres of land for Rs 22 lakh to send his youngest son to the US. His two other sons had migrated to the foreign shores six-seven years ago.

“Persistent flood threat and insufficient government aid left me with no alternative but to make this agonising choice,” he said.

“My son worked as a conductor for eight years, but he could not save anything. Thus, sending children abroad is the safest option,” he added.

Fuman Singh of Mundi Chohlian said he sold his three acres of land last year and sent his son to the US due to the fear of floods.