LOHIAN KHAS
Jalandhar administration in cooperation with MP Balbir Singh Seechewal has begun the process of plugging the breach in Dhussi Bandh at Nasir Pur village. The breach has widened to 300 feet from 150 feet but the flow of water has slowed down near it.
Two breaches in the bundh had led to the flooding of dozens of villages of the Lothian Khas block on Tuesday early morning.
Jalandhar deputy commissioner Vishesh Sarangal said that once the river current slows down, we can start plugging the bundhs. But Gurbir Dhillon of Seechewal’s team said that the MP has deployed machinery to bring sand to the site. Once the sacks are filled, we will load them in an iron mesh and start plugging the breach. The whole process may take at least three weeks.
Undeterred by the strong current in the mighty Sutlej, hundreds of volunteers of environmentalist and Rajya Sabha MP Balbir Singh Seechewal got down into deep waters to plug the breach in Dhusi Bundh at Nasirpur village on Tuesday evening.
Several residents from surrounding villages, members of NGO Akal Aid, and gurdwaras in Dalla village and other areas extended a helping hand to the villagers by bringing langar, lassi, bread, tea, biscuits, and bottled drinking water. They also took the langar vehicles to the lanes of Kakkar Kalan and other villages offering eatables to those camping on highways with their animals.
Jalandhar (rural) Senior Superintendent of Police M.S. Buller said in a press note that the police are actively engaged in rescuing people of sub-merged villages of Lohian Khas block and providing food to all of them and teams of NDRF are helping the police in the rescue operations. Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Secretary Anurag Verma also held a high-level meeting on Tuesday to review the rain damage and orchestrate relief work in the affected areas. The state has also constituted Rapid Response Teams and appointed nodal officers to supervise the ongoing flood relief operations. Permanent medical camps have been established in areas highly affected by floods.
The Water Resources Department is working on a war footing by prioritizing work with the deployment of additional staff at sensitive places.
This was stated by Water Resources Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer after taking stock of the situation at the department.
While the employees of the Water Resources department are ready to deal with any untoward situation by maintaining constant vigilance on various rivers, canals, water courses, and natural flow channels.
To ensure an uninterrupted power supply to the residents of the state, staff has been deployed at submerged power grids.
Meet Hayer said that the Water Resources department and the local district administration are identifying the breached or sensitive places, where empty bags and sandbags are being sent. The help of MGNREGA workers will be taken for this work.