Breach plugged, but water enters houses

Breach plugged, but water enters houses
Rajay Deep
Tribune News Service

Pakka Kalan (Bathinda), September 13
Insensitive attitude of the district administration towards the 150-ft-wide breach that occurred in the Pakka minor of the Kotla branch canal yesterday has halted the lives of the residents of Pakka Kalan village. The gushing water after damaging hundreds of acres of standing cotton, paddy and chilly crops today entered their houses forcing them to move to safer places.
Though villagers with the help of hundreds of people from nearby villages and dozen tractors and two JCB machines managed to plug the breach in the evening, they could not find way to drain out the accumulated water till the filing of this report.
During a visit, The Tribune observed that it was a flood-like situation in the village. All streets were waterlogged and people were busy draining out water from their houses.

Villagers try to plug the breach in Pakka minor of Kotla branch canal on Monday. The breach occured on Sunday; villagers taking their household goods to a safer place as water entered their houses at village Pakka Kalan in Bathinda on Monday. Photos by writer

Accusing the administration of showing indifferent attitude towards their problem, Joginder Singh,

whose house was inundated, said: “Had the administration did something yesterday, the situation could have been prevented from taking such an ugly shape.”
“When about 200 of us failed to plug the breach, we staged a dharna on the Bathinda-Dabwali road yesterday following which the administration assured us of sending ITBP jawans for help and asked us to lift the dharna, which we agreed to at 11 pm,” said villagers. “However, when the ITBP jawans reached the spot, they refused to help us saying it was not their job to plug the breach, they could just evacuate the marooned villagers if required,” they alleged.
Meanwhile, Bathinda DC Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, along with civil and police officials, reached the spot to assess the situation. However, his visit irked the villagers, who rued that, “When we were making requests on Sunday to send the administrative staff to help us to plug the breach, nobody bothered. But now when all is about to be completed, a team of bureaucrats landed here to express sympathy.”
After observing the situation, the DC ordered a special girdawari to ascertain the quantum of loss. The area in charge of the SAD for the Talwandi Sabo Assembly constituency, Amarjit Singh Sidhu, said he would inform the CM about the situation and urge him to consider the incident as a natural calamity.
On the other hand, village sarpanch Balkaran Singh said: “The administration neither provided us manpower nor any monetary help. The whole expenditure on running the tractors and JCBs is being borne by us only.”