A selfless official who rose to the occasion
Updated At : 07:55 PM Mar 03, 2026 IST
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IN the late 1960s, I, along with two friends, went to Anandpur Sahib to witness the Hola Mohalla festivities. The beauty of the place, the majesty and serenity of Gurdwara Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib, and the sight of the Naina Devi temple perched atop a distant hill created a bewitching spectacle.
Bitten by the civil services bug, I was curious to visit the tehsil and the office of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM). What I saw shocked me: the premises looked like a dilapidated and haunted garage belonging to an idle mechanic. When I visited again in the mid-1970s, a new and beautiful tehsil and SDM’s office complex had come up along the Charan Ganga rivulet.
In the late 1970s, the SDM was at his residence in the complex when an employee on flood duty brought a teleprinter message. As the SDM read it, his face turned pale. Soon, the tehsildar and naib tehsildar, who stayed opposite his house, arrived; worry was writ large on their faces. The message said a Financial Commissioner-rank officer, along with 12 guests, would visit Nangal and the Bhakra Dam three days hence. It was mentioned that they would first pay obeisance at the Naina Devi temple and then proceed towards the dam.
The route from Kiratpur Sahib to Naina Devi, with a detour via the Kiratpur-Kullu road, and from Naina Devi to the Bhakra Dam, is very scenic. The naib tehsildar had his own take on the upcoming visit. Thin and short in stature, he said, “Sir, it is my submission that this is a highly flood-prone area, and it has been raining incessantly. September rains are dangerous. We need to focus on the people’s problems.”
It was the young SDM’s first posting. Looking at the naib tehsildar, he replied, “The Financial Commissioner is a very senior officer; he will also review the flood situation.” The naib tehsildar then asked, “Who will pay for so many people, Sir?” The SDM looked at the tehsildar and said, “Eh naib sahib hamesha nukas nikalte hain” (he always finds faults). From then on, the SDM addressed only the tehsildar, snubbing the naib tehsildar whenever he tried to intervene.
A week after the Financial Commissioner’s visit, floodwaters entered the tehsil complex at around 3 am. The naib tehsildar was the first to raise the alarm; he informed everyone that the earthen embankment along the Charan Ganga had breached. By 7 am, officials from the irrigation and PWD departments, along with revenue officers, had reached the site. The entire group stood on a mound of earth on the riverbank. Despite being cautioned twice by the naib tehsildar to move back, the SDM remained at the edge, explaining something to the irrigation engineers.
Suddenly, the earth beneath the SDM gave way, and he was swept away by the currents. The frail naib tehsildar immediately jumped into the water. After a 30-minute pursuit covering about one kilometre, he managed to rescue the officer. He had put his own life at risk for the sake of the SDM who had belittled him. No wonder he was hailed as a hero.
The writer is a retired IAS officer
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