Punjab: The number of villages devastated by floods in Amritsar’s Ajnala swelled to nearly 70 on Saturday as water from the Ravi river entered 20 more places. So far, 30,000 residents of Ramdas and Lopoke have been affected by the floods, prompting authorities to launch rescue operations with the help of the Army and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). The floodwaters have entered residential areas located about 10 km from the Ravi bank. The river waters had started entering low-lying areas of Ajnala town on Friday. A day later, Lakhupur, Talwandi Rai Dado and Nangal villages located on the outskirts of the town were inundated.
According to officials, around 1,700 people have been rescued from flood-hit areas as most of the people were not willing to leave their homes. They have moved to the roofs of their houses. Boats and four all-terrain vehicles have been pressed into service for rescue operations. “The day has passed. Tomorrow will pass too, but what about the day after, when we will be left with nothing? Our crops have been destroyed, our houses too. That’s it,” said an exhausted farmer Sadha Singh, pointing to his submerged paddy field.
The cattle, the backbone of the rural economy, are also missing or dead. The granaries have been washed away. On rooftops, families gather around makeshift kitchens, helplessly watching the waters come closer. “There was no water here till an hour ago. Now, it has filled the entire fields, and in an hour, it may cross the road, engulfing more villages,” said Harnam Singh of Nangal. Just two kilometres away, two machines groan as labourers try to clear the clogged Sakki Nullah. “Why now?” said a farmer, trying in vain to divert water from his fields. “The government could have done this a month ago. Now that people have lost everything, they have woken up. What’s the use of this?” he added.
