Once sorrow of HP, Swan wreaks havoc in Ropar

The Swan, once known as “sorrow of Una in Himachal”, often wreaks havoc in Ropar district of Punjab during the monsoon.

Though the Himachal Pradesh Government has channeled the Swan in its jurisdiction, the work on around 40-km stretch, before it merges with the Sutlej near Anandpur Sahib, still remains.

Around 1 lakh cusecs of water flows in the river during the monsoon, damaging crops in low-lying areas of Nangal and Anandpur Sahib.

Satish Sharma, a resident of Bhallan village situated on the banks of Swan, said villages located in Punjab get flooded during the monsoon. “Farmers suffer losses due to flash floods in the Swan every year. The Punjab Government has not made any effort to channel the river,” he said.

Sukhdev Singh, another resident, said, “The Swan is prone to flash floods due to illegal mining. At places, the riverbed has sunk by around 20 ft in Punjab. The vital bridge over the Swan connecting Bhallan with Kalma Mod has been damaged due to illegal mining.”

“The pillars of the bridge have been exposed due to illegal mining. As the bridge is lying damaged for the past two years, locals use the riverbed to navigate through it,” he said.

Tushar Goyal, Executive Engineer of the Drainage Department, said, “At present, there is no proposal to channel the Swan river

in Punjab.”

Sources said the Himachal Government had received around Rs 1,000 crore from the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti to channel the Swan and its tributaries in Una district. By taming the Swan, Himachal Pradesh saved thousands of acres from the flash floods.

A source said the proposal to channel the river in Punjab was sent to the Union Government a decade ago, but the plan was not taken up promptly.