Soil erosion at Sasrali, heavy rain forecast panic villagers

Soil erosion at the embankment of the Sultej in Sasrali Colony village continues to raise fear of breach and to prevent any untoward incident, the bandh strengthening work has been intensified by the authorities. Further, heavy rain forecast for two to three days has also panicked villagers.

It is learnt that the weatherman has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall in the region on October 6 to 7. The Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) has opened floodgates of Bhakra and Pong dams on Saturday to release 40,000 cusecs of water in a controlled manner in the Sutlej and Beas.

The Tribune team visited Sasrali Colony on Sunday to take stock of the present situation and found that the bandh erosion was taking place at some places and to prevent breach in the bandh, sand beds were being laid by workers on a war footing.

Former sarpanch of Sasrali Colony Karam Singh said water was released from Bhakra and Pong dams, which increased the flow of water at Sasrali. Till Saturday evening, the water level was not even touching the bandh but from the midnight, the water level has increased and the strong current of water had been hitting the bandh, causing soil erosion at several points.

“Bandh is weakening at some places and to prevent it, sand bags are being put alongside the embankment to prevent further soil erosion. Fear of breach in the bandh seems imminent as strong water current is hitting the embankment. We are still hopeful that the way the bandh strengthening work is going on, any untoward situation may be averted,” the former sarpanch said.

An elderly man, Punjab Singh, who was roaming near the bandh to check the erosion, said the recent flood-like situation had caused huge damages to crops and fields in Sasrali. Over 100 acres of agricultural land had also submerged in the river, leaving farmers in the lurch.

“Bandh in Sasrali Colony had not witnessed any flood-like situation in the past 70 years and even during the 1988 floods in the state, the embankment in Sasrali had not witnessed any major damage and even no loss of crops was then reported.

BJP state spokesperson Pritpal Singh Baliawal said the administration had already deployed teams and the bandh strengthening work was going on. Water released from dams had already reached the river embankment, which caused soil erosion at some points but the situation is under control.