Water level recedes, but worry persists

Avneet Kaur

Lohian Khas (Jalandhar), August 25

Harkirat Singh of Chak Wadala village has lost everything he had when the water from the Sutlej washed away his mud house and belongings following a breach in the bundh at Janian Chahal village five days ago.

Harkirat, who is a daily labourer, is extremely worried as with the fields inundated, there is no work left for him. He is waiting for the water level to go down so that he can see the land where he worked and the remains of his house. “I don’’t know how will I survive for the next three months, at least till November, when the harvesting season of sugarcane starts,” he said.

Harkirat is not the only one who has been devastated by the floods. Many in his village have suffered great losses and want the administration to come up with a technique to drain out the water, so that the normalcy returns to the area.

Although the water level in the Lohian area has begun falling, 5-6 feet deep stagnant water may take weeks to dry up that too after the breaches are plugged.

Salwinder Singh, a resident of Janian, said around three-ft water had receded, but the villagers were worried because there were no means to drain out the standing water.

“People present in the relief camps want to come back to their houses. If we wait for the water to dry up naturally it will take too long, so we request the administration to take steps to drain out such large quantity of water.”