Punjab: Tractors, trolleys working as rescue vehicles and ambulances amid floods

Punjab: Punjab is grappling with its worst floods in years, inundating over 1,300 villages across the state. It is not the government rescue fleet but the farmers’ tractors and trolleys that have emerged as the most reliable lifeline in this hour of crisis. These vehicles have become essential in ferrying people, livestock and relief material to places where no other transport can reach. Punjab has around 6.41 lakh tractors, which form the backbone of its agricultural economy. In flood-affected areas, these machines have taken on an altogether different role—serving as rescue carriers, makeshift ambulances and supply vehicles. With large stretches of roads submerged in chest-deep water, tractors and trolleys are the only mode of transport. In flood-affected villages, the sight of tractors laden with women, children and the elderly moving on flooded roads has become a symbol of resilience.

The trolleys attached to these tractors are also being used to transport fodder, drinking water, grains and medicines for cattle in flood-affected areas. Young volunteers, many of them untrained but determined, are driving these vehicles in dangerous waters, often working round the clock without any hope of recognition. “Tractors have become the backbone of relief operations. In many villages, evacuating people was possible only with tractors and trolleys,” said farmer leader Satnam Singh Sahni. Ironically, the vehicles that were once called “nuisance machines” on highways and criticised during farmers’ protests are now being used by state officials as well. Punjab chief secretary KAP Sinha used a tractor to inspect submerged villages, and ministers and MLAs have also been seen relying on tractors for movement in cut-off areas. “During the agitation, tractors were criticised and removed from protest sites. Today, they are the key to livelihoods in flood-affected areas,” said Sahni. “Where even boats cannot reach, tractors and trolleys are delivering relief material.” Apart from rescue operations, tractors are also being used to carry sandbags to strengthen embankments, helping to fill the breaches and prevent further flooding. For villagers struggling to protect both human lives and livestock, these machines have proven indispensable. “Had there been no tractors, the scale of human and animal loss would have been devastating,” said BKU leader Sahni. “The courage of the young villagers working selflessly with tractors and trolleys is unparalleled.” For decades, tractors have been central to Punjab’s rural identity, with farmers often fondly calling them their “sons.” Traditionally used in the fields, festivals, and mass protests, tractors have added a new dimension to their legacy in this flood crisis. From being agricultural equipment and symbols of protest, tractors have now become essential lifelines—moving stranded families to safety, delivering essentials, and embodying Punjab’s spirit of solidarity against nature’s fury.