“The code of conduct delayed it. The fund for the repair was to be released by the State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF). During the MCC, meetings could not take place, so we had to wait. However, as soon as the MCC ceased to exist, we swung into action and completed formalities in record time. All meetings took place within 15 days, and the work is going on,” a government officer told The Indian Express.

The officer said the monsoon picks up in mid-July in Punjab, so they have time. “The work is going on at the war footing. For the first time, the state government has released Rs 18.19 crore to strengthen the embankments. It never happened earlier for the Ghaggar, commonly referred to as ‘sorrow in Punjab‘,” he said.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had on June 19 visited the Makror Sahib area to ensure the repair and desilting work, wherever required, could be expedited.

Former Congress MLA from Ghanaur Madan Lal Jalalpur said, “The strengthening of bandh on the Ghaggar was not done in his constituency. Sand mining has weakened the bandh. I have not seen any machine there. Last year, 34-35 villages in my area were submerged in the flood. But no repair work has been done this time. After the breach last year, some repair work took place but not this year. There is no preparedness.”

“The bandhs have not been strengthened, leave aside the desilting,” the former MLA added.

Punjab Water Resources Minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra, however, said the repair work was in full swing. “Rivals always find faults. We assigned JCB and poclain mechanics four to five months ago and the strengthening of embankments was done.”

The minister further said, “Now fields are flooded for paddy transplantation, so machines cannot work there. But we have done a lot of work. In Dera Bassi alone, we are spending Rs 8 crore on the repair work.”

The minister added, “In the Samana area the embankment was strengthened at weak points such as Bhanra-Bhanri, Draulli, and Tullewal, among others. The repair work has already been done.”

The bandhs in Markror Sahib’s reach were strengthened in 2022 and 2023 at costs of Rs 37 lakh and Rs 48.2 lakh, respectively. Also, desilting/cleaning of the river downstream of Khanauri was undertaken for Rs 62.11 and Rs. 37.18 lakh in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
AAP MLA from Sardulgarh Gurpreet Singh Banawali said the government had opened tenders for strengthening three vulnerable sites on the Ghaggar in his segment but only one tender was allotted. “Two others were very costly; hence those were not allotted. Now we have decided to plug the gaps in the bandh at two places with sandbags. At this juncture, the repair work cannot be undertaken due to paddy sowing.”

“We have strengthened one of the vulnerable sites with boulders. Tenders could not be issued for the other two as the MCC was in place. So, we have decided to keep gunny bags filled with sand ready for any eventuality,” Banawali added.

Ghaggar offsets from the foothills of the Shivalik. The total length of the river is 365 km, of which 170 km falls in Mohali and Patiala districts. As the Ghaggar moves down, its section reduces, while in the case of other rivers, it’s vice-versa. In this region, its major tributaries are Sukhna Choe, Jhirmil Nadi, Pachidara Nala, Patiala Nadi, River Tangri and River Markanda.

“While flowing through Panchkula and Mohali, the water current is appreciably good resulting in early discharge of floodwater. As it moves further, the water current decreases due to flatter terrain and discharge increases in the catchment area in addition to other minor and major rivers and drains,” officials said.

Ghaggar has always been a good source of irrigation but also major flood havoc as was experienced in major and minor flood events in 1993, 2004, 2014, 2019, and 2024. Major floods of 2024 and 1993 damaged crops, adjoining lands, infrastructure, private and government properties worth several crores and most importantly many human lives.

PROBLEMS GALORE

Officials, however, said the government had been facing several problems since the beginning of the Ghaggar embankments’ repair work.
The major problem is the slow water flow, they said, explaining: “During the major flood, the damage in the downstream district of Mohali is comparatively higher than the upstream. The major reason is the lesser rate of flow as the natural terrain gets flattened, reducing the span of the river. This results in slower discharge of floodwater and floodwaters overtopping the river banks.”

Officials said the water carrying capacity of Ghaggar in Patiala district is around 15,000 cusecs. “Any discharge value above 15,000 cusecs overtop the river banks causing flooding of nearby areas. In case of major floods, for instance, in 2024, the flooding of Ghaggar resulted in flooding of its tributaries due to slower passage of discharge, resulting in the damage to huge area adjoining Patiala Nadi, Tangri and Markanda rivers and Pachisdara nullah,” they said.

MAN-MADE OBSTRUCTIONS

The Ghaggar has been syphoned under the Hansi-Butana aqueduct and the Khanauri-BML (Bhakra Main Line) aqueduct. This construction restricts the flow leading to flooding in the upstream areas. “The design discharge capacity of the Hansi-Butana aqueduct is 1,62,300 cusecs. Most of its opening remains silted, resulting in damages in upstream areas, even as the discharge carrying capacity of the river channel downstream is not more than 15,000 cusecs. Whether the syphon is working as per its design capacity or not, floodwater will cause damage, it has been studied,” officials said.

Further, the discharge capacity of the Khanauri-BML aqueduct is 25,000 cusecs, thus it will pass only 25,000 cusecs of floodwater downstream and the rest gets accumulated upstream resulting in overtopping of floodwater and causing a flood-like situation almost every alternate year, causing damage to crops. “This overtopped floodwater flows as sheet flow damaging crops and private and government infrastructure in various villages like Badshapur, Rasauli, Arnetu, Shurtana, Naiwala, Gulahar, Hautipur, and villages in Sangrur and passes through a separate syphon named Bastidara before again falling into the Ghaggar in Sangrur,” they said.

WIDENING OF RIVER SPAN ONLY SOLUTION

An official said the river can carry 1 lakh to 1.5 lakh cusecs of water, but during the flood last year, it carried 3 lakh cusecs. “How much quantity of floodwater comes cannot be anticipated but we can only reduce the damage. Most low-lying areas along the Ghaggar have been protected by creating LMBs, RMBs and ring bandhs, but floodwater damages unprotected areas and protected areas by damaging/breaching the protection banks,” he said.

“It is suggested that a section of the Ghaggar should be increased to carry a designed water capacity to avoid annual damage and reduce/prevent damage in case of major flood events without affecting the natural drainage system. However, this would require land acquisition and remodelling of structures that cause obstruction. For this, the government will need crores of rupees,” the official said.

“To save downstream areas of Khanauri from floods, a section of Ghaggar was maintained by the acquisition of land and construction of protection banks on both sides to carry floodwater up to a capacity of 25,000 cusecs. This work was completed up to Makror Sahib in Punjab. Further, in the Punjab portion, the same work was to be continued till Krail in Phase II, which could not be executed due to the objection by Haryana,” the official added.