Again: Water hyacinth chokes Kali Bein; fields inundated

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, August 1

Water level of the Kali Bein has again risen due to heavy rainfall witnessed in the Doaba region for the past few days. While environmentalist Balbir Singh Seechewal, along with his volunteers, has been cleaning the bein of water hyacinth, the environmentalist said due to incessant rains, the water levels in the 165 km long bein had again risen. He said due to this, the crops along the bein have been destroyed. At many places, water is touching the fields.

Seechewal said for the past many days, he, along with the residents of the village, had been working to remove water hyacinth from the water. He also added that it was also one of the prime reasons for floods after heavy rains as it obstructs the natural flow of water, choking the bein.

He said machines had been pressed into service to take out hyacinth for which Rs 20,000 to 25,000 diesel is being used every day. He said the contribution for this is being made by the residents. During the course of the kar sewa, bridges on Kanjli, Subhanpur, Bhawanipur, Gurdwara Sant Ghat and Bosewal were inspected by the environmentalist where there was probability of water hyacinth being stuck. He also appealed to the village residents and administration not to flow the hyacinth upstream but to pluck it out so that it doesn’t choke the bein.

Seechewal said, “Earlier, there were three bridges on the bein at Sultanpur Lodhi from which it was easy to take out the water hyacinth but the three pontoon bridges and four other new bridges have taken the total number of bridges to 10. Due to this, it has become more difficult to take out the water hyacinth.”

He added if the bein gets 250 to 300 cusecs of water all year round, it won’t choke up like this. In the past few days, water hyacinth has been removed from three spots on the bein banks, Gurdwara Sant Ghat, Gaziour Haranamur village and Khaira village. The kar sewa will also continue so that the hyacinth isn’t stuck in more bridges.