Ravi floods: Punjab Govt suspends 3 officers posted at Madhopur headworks over floodgate failure in August

The Punjab Government has suspended three officers, who were posted at the Madhopur headworks when the floodgates there did not open during the recent heavy inflow of water in the Ravi river, leading to severe flooding in areas of Pathankot and Gurdaspur districts.

Those issued suspension orders by the Principal Secretary, Water Resources Department, include XeN Nitin Sood, SDO Arun Kumar and JE Sachin Thakur. The three officers posted there were responsible for the maintenance of the flood gates.

The incident happened on the intervening night of August 26-27. It is believed that 2.12 lakh cusecs of water was released from the Ranjit Sagar Dam. The 54 floodgates at the barrage were reportedly sealed after Operation Sindoor, to stop the flow of water to Pakistan.

When the water came gushing down from the upstream reservoir of the Ranjit Sagar dam, these flood gates could not be opened.

Two of the gates gave way and the Indian Army rescued 22 personnel at the headworks who were stationed there to help open the floodgates. Later, a building near the floodgates had also collapsed under the pressure of raging waters.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu has demanded the resignation of Punjab’s Water Resources Minister Barinder Goyal, stating that merely suspending three officials was not enough. He asserted that both the Chief Minister and the minister should be held accountable for gross negligence in flood preparation before the onset of monsoons.