Tireless teamwork to aid of flood-hit Jalandhar villages

Aparna Banerji

Jalandhar, July 30

Sukha Singh, who hails from Sarhali Kalan here, has come to the rescue of residents of 25 flood-affected villages of the Sultanpur Lodhi and Darewal areas.

Sukha Singh and his team of 400 volunteers have been working round the clock to plug breaches in embankments of the Beas at Darewal (Shahkot), Baupur and Ali Kalan villages. Thousands of bags of sand have been arranged for the job. Head of the Tapovan Sahib Dera, the 62-year-old started his ‘kar sewa’ (voluntary labour) from the Muthiala bundh in Tarn Taran. Later, he was called by residents of Darewal in Shahkot where he had worked during the 2019 floods. His aide Jagmohan Singh said, “Volunteers have come from different villages and towns, including Sultanpur Lodhi, Batala, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Patti, Ferozepur and Ludhiana, to help in this good work.” Embankments of varying lengths have been plugged at Darewal, Baupur and Ali Kalan. On Sunday morning, a team was rushed to Subhajpur at Tarn Taran where a bundh is on the verge of collapse.

Much like Balbir Singh Seechewal’s ‘kar sewa’ at Shahkot, Sukha Singh also helps volunteers in plugging the breaches. Gurpreet Singh, a policeman, who is also volunteering in the work, said, “Around 25 villages were inundated. Darewal residents called Sukha Singh ji because he had helped them earlier also.” Notably, Sukha Singh has also extended aid in form of fodder for animals and ration to stranded villagers. Talking about his volunteer work, Sukha Singh said, “Our aim is only to plug these breaches so that water may not enter the villages. These villages need pucca bundhs to avoid crisis in future.” AAP leader Sajjan Singh Cheema said, “Most of the bundhs were built by people to protect their crops, the administration can’t formally undertake the work of plugging these. In this scenario, we are really thankful to Sukha Singh for his exemplary service.”