Chandigarh
After 1993, Punjab is again witnessing the same fear of losing their loved ones and assets to flash floods across the state. Incessant rains over hills have swollen the rivulets joining inside Punjab and affected people’s lives in an unprecedented manner. The state government is yet to assess the losses so far in the state. Himachal Pradesh has also suffered massive losses, and is trying to limp back to normal life.
“In Punjab, in some areas, people constructed their houses within the river bed and this has proved devastating for them now. Roads were deliberately damaged to release the water. Initial assessment reveals that maximum damage to roads has been reported in Ludhiana district where around 20 rural roads and small bridges in rural areas have been damaged,” an official said. The places where people are suffering the most from flash floods are in river beds—be it in Haryana near the Kaushalaya Dam where builders built multi-storied flats or in Punjab where people took dry river beds for granted and built their houses there. As a result, there is no sewage outlet planned, and the flow of water is stuck there and is not receding.
The Central government has provided Rs 180.40 crore as disaster management fund to Himachal Pradesh and Rs 218 crore to Punjab, while the estimate of losses in Himachal is over Rs 200 crore.
At least 150 rural roads and 10 small bridges have been damaged in floods in Punjab in the past few days, as per the initial assessment by the state Public Works Department (PWD). The PWD assessment also added that there has not been any report of major damage to any private or government main buildings yet in the state. “The exact damage cannot be assessed at this stage as our officers are busy with rescue operations. However, we have received around 80 reports from our ground staff. A complete assessment will be done in a couple of days,” said a senior PWD official on the condition of anonymity.
Another senior official said that till now, except damage to a district road in Garshankar in Hoshiarpur and a small bridge collapse due to flooding, there has been no reports of major incident of any main road getting damaged.
“Various roads in rural areas have been shut for traffic in the district. Nearly 65 roads are said to have been affected by the floods, especially in the Machiwara area,” an official added. In Hoshiarpur, 13 link roads are said to be damaged. In Ropar, an assessment is still underway. Here many roads, including the main road, connecting Rupnagar to Chamkaur Sahib, remained suspended for traffic on Sunday.
In Mohali, the maximum damage to infrastructure in rural areas was witnessed in Dera Bassi and Mullanpur areas, along the Shivalik foothills. Traffic on Dera Bassi-Barwala road was affected on a nearly 7 km stretch. Similarly, the road network in Patiala district has also been damaged with many roads, including Patiala-Dakala Road remaining suspended for traffic. Traffic from a few roads was diverted because of the overflow of water, a PWD official added.
During three days, 5161.5 mm of rain has been recorded in the state. All the rivers of Punjab are in spate. More than 13,000 people have been evacuated from the severe affected areas with the help of NDRF. While eight people have lost their lives due to floods, many milch animals have also lost their lives due to floods. About nine people have been admitted to hospitals in different districts for treatment. Three people are reported missing. More than 7,500 medical staff have been deployed at different places. And on Tuesday, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann reviewed the flood relief works.
Medicines worth Rs 50,000 per district have been procured and sent to senior veterinary officers of Ropar, Patiala, Ludhiana, Mohali, Fatehgarh Sahib, Moga, Jalandhar, Ferozepur, Kapurthala, Tarn Taran and Sangrur districts, so that the health of the animals can be taken care of. Apart from this, rapid response teams of veterinary doctors and other staff have been constituted and deployed in flood-affected areas.
If required, arrangements have also been made for fodder for animals. The health department has also issued grants to hospitals to save human lives. One person has died in Ropar, two in Fatehgarh Sahib, one in Hoshiarpur, two in Mohali and one in SBS Nagar. One person has been reported missing in Moga, one in Mohali and one in Jalandhar due to floods.