AJNALA (AMRITSAR): To review the crop losses in border villages like Ball Labhe Darya, Kamirpura, Sahowal, and others affected by the devastating floods in River Ravi, constituency MLA and former Punjab Cabinet Minister S. Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal personally reached the spot. Boarding a motorboat provided by the BSF, he inspected the destroyed crops across the river.
During the inspection, S. Dhaliwal personally led the operation to recover six tractors buried 10 feet deep under sand and silt due to the floods—successfully pulling out three tractors on-site. Facing the dangers of fast-flowing waters, the tractors were ferried across and returned to their owners in Ball Labhe Darya village, offering courage to the distressed farmers.
Considering the demand of affected farmers for new boats and ferries (as one big boat and one ferry had already been swept away), Dhaliwal contributed ₹1 lakh from his own pocket, called workshop craftsmen, and instructed that new boats and ferries be delivered to farmers within two weeks.
After hearing the farmers’ grievances about sudden surges of water in the river, Dhaliwal said the natural disaster was caused by cloudbursts in the upper hilly areas, which brought massive amounts of debris, red soil, and silt down to Thein Dam. Even engineers found it impossible to issue advance warnings about such sudden flows reaching downstream villages and towns.
Meanwhile, to probe the breaking of three floodgates at Madhopur Headworks, the Punjab government has formed a five-member expert committee of engineers to study the structural, mechanical, hydrological, and geotechnical causes. Three officials have already been suspended for negligence.
Dhaliwal further criticized the Central Modi Government, stating that while thousands of acres of fertile land have been eroded by floods across Punjab, the Centre remains a mute spectator. He alleged that Punjab BJP President Sunil Jakhar and other senior leaders have betrayed farmers by failing to secure any special relief package from the Central Government.
According to affected farmers, about 250 acres of fertile land in Ball Labhe Darya village and nearly 1, 000 acres in total across Ajnala have been swallowed by the Ravi River. Farmers are desperately searching for their “vanished land.” Dhaliwal demanded that the Centre must compensate affected farmers with at least ₹20 lakh per acre for the lost land.
He added that on July 2, in a meeting with Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti C.R. Patil in Delhi, he had already raised the demand for de-silting of the Ravi River and for funds to compensate the farmers for land lost in previous floods, since these matters fall under the jurisdiction of the Central Government.