Watershed of hope: Punjab fights back floods

Punjab is reeling under acute floods. The state was once the heart of the ancient Sapt Sindhu region, the land of seven rivers — the Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Sutlej and Saraswati, the hidden river. Later, it became known as the land of the five rivers (Panj-aab), from which it got its name. But post1947, Punjab has been reduced to the land of three rivers — Ravi, Beas and Sutlej.

Political or geographical boundaries have changed, but the water crisis remained stubbornly the same. Summer brings the fear of over-extraction for farming, and monsoons bring floods. Moreover, floods are no longer rare events — these occur within few years. The state witnessed floods in 1947, 1955, 1988, 1993, 2007, 2017 and 2023.

All through the year, Punjab and its neighbours, Haryana, Rajasthan as well as the Centre, fight over a greater share of Punjab waters. But no one wants a share of its floodwater.

This year’s flood has come within two years of the severe ecological imbalance being caused by massive construction activity in the hills of Himachal Pradesh. Experts say Punjab gets marooned by the heavy rain in the catchment areas of the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej rivers, not because of the monsoon rains. This time around the Sutlej catchment area has received moderate rain compared to the Ravi and Beas catchments, which have swelled beyond control.

This calamity has exposed the fragility of the state's flood management. An unprecedented 14.11 lakh cusecs of water has flowed through these rivers till this weekend, flooding villages across Kapurthala, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Fazilka and Sultanpur Lodhi. Over 14,200 acres of land have been submerged, including both residential areas and cultivated fields.

In Pathankot, water levels in the Ravi river rose so high — a double jeopardy in some parts, as the floodwaters that exited into Pakistan returned into India with the return flow of the river, sandwiching some villages in between. Relief operations are still underway, but the scale of the damage is overwhelming.

The heart-warming thing is that the spirit of Punjabiyat remains intact. Common folk, NGOs, religious deras, Punjabi singers and even politicians have opened their purses to help the marooned as well as those whose lives and livelihoods have been damaged by the flood waters. The Sikh concept of “bhana manana”, or the ability to face adversity and to rise from the ashes, is clearly alive and well.

Singers Satinder Sartaaj and Jasbir Jassi have distributed ration kits, fodder and a month's supply to 500 families affected by floods in areas like Ajnala, Amritsar, Fazilka and Tarn Taran.

Gurdwaras and deras have led from the front – Punjab has over 2,000 deras and each of them, in big ways and small, have reached out to their brethren. When the former Jathedar of the Akal Takht Giani Raghbir Singh broke down at Ajnala on Saturday, while performing ardas for the flood victims, it was as much because of the scale of the devastation as for the sewa that Punjabis are doing for those critically affected by the floods.

Social media reels document this resilience, hour after hour. One much-watched reel shows people dancing and reciting Gurbani while dumping sandbags along a breached river bank in Tarn Taran. In Ajnala, residents of three villages pooled resources to plug a breach in the Sutlej. When a rescue team of workers led by Amritsar Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney, finally reached a marooned home in Ajnala on Sunday – it had been inaccessible because of fiercely flowing Ravi waters – the old man smiled through his toothless mouth, but refused to leave his “dangars”, or cattle, behind.

Another video showcased rows of tractors making a beeline for Dera Baba Nanak and adjoining areas to supply ration, clothes and medicines for those left stranded on rooftops in marooned villages. The tractors take dry fodder for animals as well. In a viral video from Barnala, Puja Rani, a young pugilist, continued to practise on her boxing bag hanging from a tree branch outside her slum home near the river. In Sultanpur Lodhi, Kapurthala and Ajnala, all-terrain vehicles are offering their services for free.

Meanwhile, the political class clamours for both blame and rescue. The state blames the Centre for its lack of interest, while the Centre says it has given Punjab ₹290 crore for flood protection. The state says it has no money and can’t reinforce embankments. Other states, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s men say, are quick to demand Punjab’s river water, but are nowhere to be seen when floods hit.

…With inputs from Ruchika Khanna