Floods damage plantation on dhussi bundhs, wildlife at risk

Rajmeet Singh/Neeraj Bagga

Chandigarh/Amritsar, Sept 7

Large tracts of forest plantations in Punjab have been extensively damaged due to floods that ravaged several parts of the state over the past few days.

The swollen waters of the Beas, Sutlej and Ravi not only breached dhussi bundhs (earthen embankments) constructed along the rivers, but also damaged plantations on these bundhs.

The exact loss of trees and damage to wildlife will be assessed once the floodwater recedes. The Forest Department is monitoring the safety of the endangered gharial population in the ecologically sensitive Harike Wetland. Preliminary estimates suggest that nearly 780 hectare forestland has been affected and about 5 lakh trees uprooted or damaged.

Officials cited damage to plantation on dhussi bundh at Kathgarh range along the Sutlej in Nawanshahr; Bamial-Killpur bundh; upper and lower dhussi bundh along the Ravi in Pathankot and Gurdaspur; Manjwal forest; Makhu bundh in Zira; Hussainiwala bundh in Ferozepur; Chak Sarkar bundh in Fazilka; and Hadiwal-Sasrali bundh in Ludhiana.

The worst affected are four block forest ranges in the border districts of Amritsar and Tarn Taran, spread across thousands of hectares and home to six varieties of shrubs, nine varieties of mammals, 59 species of birds, four species of reptiles, and a nursery of over one lakh saplings. These forests, along with their wildlife, were severely impacted by the swirling waters.

These areas are bounded by the International Border with Pakistan on the west. The Ravi marks the western side, the Sutlej the southern and the Beas the eastern, more or less forming the natural boundaries of the forest division covering Amritsar and Tarn Taran. The division includes the Rakh Sarai Amanat Khan reserve forest (1,223 acres), the only notified Wildlife Conservation Reserve in the area. The adjoining Kamalpur block forest, spread over hundreds of acres, also holds significant ecological importance.

The department has also suffered heavy losses at its nurseries, where lakhs of saplings were submerged in floodwater. The setback is expected to affect the state government’s plan to expand forest cover.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Dharminder Sharma said the department had already incurred an estimated loss of Rs 3.6 crore. The exact damage to the plantation and wildlife would be assessed once the water recedes, he added.