Jalandhar: With the swollen Satluj touching the Gindarpindi railway bridge near Lohian, residents of nearby villages and the official machinery are anxious. In the past, breaches in the dhussi bundh occurred within a five-kilometre upstream stretch from
this point. Drainage department officials and farmers from the nearby villages have been vigilantly monitoring the embankments.At 1 am on Tuesday, a flow of 79,200 cusecs was recorded at the Gidarpindi railway bridge, and it continued to increase, doubling
to 1,70,000 cusecs by 10 pm. A significant amount of water was added to the Satluj through seasonal tributaries downstream after Ropar. While the flow remained almost the same—over 93,000 cusecs—at Phillaur, further downstream, the
volume consistently increased with every passing hour on Tuesday. Chitti Bein, which carried water from the catchment areas of the Doaba region, appears to be the biggest contributor to this addition.
In 2008, a breach occurred very close to the Gidarpindi bridge. Then, in 2019, a 130-metre wide and 13-metre deep breach occurred at the village of Jania Chahal. In 2023, two breaches occurred at the villages of Mandhala and
Gatta Mandi Kasu. Each time, crops in thousands of acres were damaged. According to old timers, in 2008 and 1995 also, breaches had taken place within this short upstream stretch.
As per environmentalist Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal, the riverbed of the Satluj is around two kilometres wide
upstream, but at this bridge, it is around 700 metres wide. After the 2019 breach, it was found that there was
significant silting right under the railway bridge, causing a major constriction of space. In 2020, during the Covid
epidemic, a major volunteer effort to de-silt this stretch was undertaken. Govt departments gave necessary
clearances, and the entire de-silting operation was led by Baba Seechewal. The effort was funded by NRIs, and
the farmers from the neighbouring villages, who bore the brunt of the flood, provided fuel, which alone incurred
an expenditure of over Rs 1.25 crore. The farmers also bore expenses for hiring earth-moving machines, tippers,
and special tractor-trolleys with hydraulic lifts. The earth removed from the place was used to strengthen the
dhussi bundh along the river.
In 2022, de-silting of the riverbed ahead of the Gidarpindi railway bridge was undertaken after water resources,
mines and geology principal secretary Krishan Kumar inspected the place in June 2022. He instructed the officers
of the department to remove as much soil as possible from the river near the bridge before the onset of rains.
Despite this, two breaches occurred in 2023.
According to the drainage department officials, the land 1,400 feet on the east side and 800 feet on the west side
of the Gidarpindi railway bridge is owned by the railways. Meanwhile, in Doaba, the waters of both rivulets—Chitti
Bein and Kali Bein, flowing respectively into the Satluj and Beas—were overflowing their banks.