Three breaches in Fazilka drain, 1,000 acres inundated

Three breaches were reported in the Abulkhurana drain in the past 24 hours , inundating 1,000 acres here.

According to official sources, two breaches were reported from Bandiwala and one in Sabuana village.

Karamjeet Singh, former sarpanch of Bandiwala village, accused officials of failing to properly clean the vital drain for the past four years.

“The breach was reported at 6 pm but Drainage Department officials did not turn up for hours despite repeated requests,” he alleged.

He said the drain had overflowed near Lakhewali Dhab, Kheowali Dhab, Bandiwala and Sabuana villages last month too but the department “did not pay any attention” to it.

Alok Chaudhary, XEN, Drainage Department, said that the process to plug the breaches had begun. He said the exact loss was yet to be ascertained.

Fazilka suffered heavy losses due to ill-maintained drains, incessant rainfall followed by several breaches and overflowing of the drains in recent months.