Joint effort: 300-ft breach plugged in 72 hours in Gurdaspur

Ravi Dhaliwal

Gurdaspur, August 21

For three days, nearly 5,000 villagers cast away their deep-rooted political affiliations and also buried village rivalries to execute the onerous job of plugging a 300 feet wide, 30 feet deep breach at the Beas, a task which had become essential to their survival.

Officials say lives, livelihoods and livestock of hundreds of villagers living in 25-30 villages could have been washed away had the project been delayed by even a few hours.

Drainage officers said they were stunned at the speed and swiftness at which the mission was completed. They claimed under normal circumstances, it takes 20-22 days to finish such an exercise.

On August 17 evening, DC Himanshu Aggarwal was informed that a ‘dhussi’ had been breached at Jagatpur Tanda village. “It was imperative for us to start work immediately as the breach was getting bigger and bigger,” he said.

Two hours later, work started in right earnest. Hundreds of tractor-trolleys started bringing in soil from nearby districts. By the end of the exercise, 2.5 lakh sand-bags had been used. In all, the DC had to requisition 1,200 trolleys and 15 JCB machines from different departments.

As many as 18 floodlights were set up at four vantage points by Mandi Board officials. Four generators, too, were placed nearby. It was as if a country was preparing for a war. The supply of food packets and drinking water bottles seemed to be never ending. Youngsters had their two-wheelers ready just in case of a medical emergency.

Trolleys had to dump soil 200 metres away from the site because of the uneven terrain. From there, villagers carried sand bags on their back. “Indeed, where there is a will, there is a way,” said the emotionally drained DC at the end of the mission.

Mammoth task

• 5,000 villagers worked round the clock
• 2.5 lakh sandbags used
• 18 floodlights set up at four vantage points
• 4 generators for night operations
• 1,200 trailers brought in soil from nearby districts
• 15 JCB machines requisitioned by DC from various departments