Ferozpur, Oct 9: Fear returned to Punjab’s border villages on Tuesday as the Sutlej river once again rose following fresh releases from upstream dams, threatening areas that had only just begun to recover from recent floods.
Several villages—including Navi Gatti Rajoke, Tendiwala, Kaluwala, Nihala Kilcha, Nihala Lavera, Dhira Ghara, and Bandala—witnessed the re-entry of floodwaters into their already-soaked fields. The strong current has begun to erode the riverbanks, sparking fresh anxiety among locals worried that the Sutlej may change its course towards their homes.
According to officials, the downstream discharge from Harike Headworks stood at 92,000 cusecs on Tuesday, while Hussainiwala recorded 80,000 cusecs—nearly double the normal flow of 40,000 to 45,000 cusecs. At the height of the recent floods, the discharge had surged to around 3 lakh cusecs.
At Kaluwala—the last Indian village along the border, surrounded by the Sutlej on three sides and fenced by the Indo-Pak border on the fourth—normal life remains disrupted. The latest rise in the water level has again forced around 250 residents to evacuate. Sixteen families have now shifted to nearby Langiana village, sheltering under tarpaulin tents and waiting for government aid.
“The situation feels like a nightmare repeating itself,” said Swarn Singh, 55, a resident of Kaluwala. “My four acres of land are still buried under eight feet of sand. No tractor can reach inside. My sons are still in school, but I don’t even know how to pay their fees. I just pray to Waheguru that we are spared more suffering.”
Locals said many of their tubewells and borewells are still nonfunctional and that electricity poles damaged in the previous floods have not yet been restored, leaving the area in darkness.
Makhan Singh, 60, recalled the harrowing days when his family had taken shelter on the roof of the local primary school. “Twelve acres of my land have disappeared into the river,” he said. “One of my cows died of a snakebite, and though an NGO helped me with another animal, this sudden rise in water has left us terrified again. Two rooms of my house had collapsed, but I still don’t have the money to rebuild.”
Surjit Singh, another farmer, said his four acres remain covered in thick layers of sand made worse by the recent rains. “The fields are so muddy that no machinery can clear the sand. If this isn’t removed soon, wheat sowing will be delayed,” he said.
Former sarpanch of Gatti Rajoke, Balbir Singh, said water has once again entered farmlands after an embankment on the Pakistani side, which had earlier breached, gave way again. “The floodwaters have created new channels across our fields. The topsoil has washed away, leaving deep pits behind. Farmers here face another season of uncertainty,” he said.
Sandeep Goyal, Superintendent Engineer, Water Resources Department, said the water level rose after heavy rainfall in the upper catchment areas led to more discharge from Bhakra and Pong dams. “Due to this, the release from Harike headworks towards Hussainiwala had increased to 93,000 cusecs but has now reduced to 85,000 cusecs. We expect levels to stabilize soon,” he noted.
For many in the flood-hit villages, however, the fear of displacement has become a grim routine. “We had just started rebuilding our lives,” said Swarn Singh softly. “And now, once again, the river has taken it all away.”
