Army engineers join work to prevent water from entering Sasrali village

On the request of the district administration, the Army has deployed its engineering wing to assist workers at Sasrali Colony, where the Sutlej had changed its course and begun eroding the dhusi bandh. Engineers, along with the local workforce, have started de-silting operations in the middle of the river to divert the water flow away from the village.

Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Jain while speaking to The Tribune said the administration’s major focus during the floods was to ensure that water did not enter the village.

“During days of heavy rainfall, the river’s flow caused land erosion at an alarming rate of nearly three acres per day beyond the dhusi bandh. However, the water level has dropped significantly over the past five days, with only 15,000 cusecs being discharged at Phillaur. Under the guidance of the Irrigation Department and with the support of the Army’s engineering wing, we have deployed machinery to carry out de-silting in the middle of the river. It will help restart the natural creek and stop the water from moving towards the village. We are hopeful that the situation will stabilise soon,” the DC added.

Meanwhile, villagers continue to stay under stress and hope that not much water would be released from Bhakra till the issue at Sasrali Colony, where the river had changed the direction towards the village side, was resolved.

A resident, Devinder Singh Nagra, who had to bear crop losses at Sasrali Colony village, said now the situation looked slightly relieved as machines had arrived and de-silting of the river had started.

“The water level is also decreased, hence, villagers feel that it’s not an alarming situation,” he said.

About 400 acres of land in Sasrali Colony and Boothgarh villages got damaged during downpours and a flood-like situation in the district. The dhussi bandh came under danger and water started eroding the land crossing the bandh in about 3 km of area initially due to the heavy and changing flow of the river. Efforts were made by the villagers, Army and NDRF forces, administration and NGOs day and night to strengthen the bandh during excessive rains. However, there was no loss of life and no livestock was reportedly killed during the floods while the crops of several villagers were damaged. Now, the issue is that the river had changed the flow and had started eroding sides, which were touching the bandh on the village side.