DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Punjab Water Resources Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal on Monday informed the House that water reservoir levels in Punjab were stable and there was no flood-like situation in the state. He said the state government was ready to meet any eventuality in this direction.

Goyal was responding to a call attention motion presented by Independent MLA Rana Inder Pratap Singh about preventing flood threats in low-lying areas due to rising water in reservoirs. It was the third day of the ongoing special session of the Punjab Assembly.

Goyal said water levels in major reservoirs remained within safe limits as of July 10.

He informed the House that the water level at Bhakra Dam stood at 1,590.48 feet compared to 1,614.89 feet on the corresponding day in 2023 during floods in that year.

The current level at Pong Dam is 1,325.48 feet, which was 1,350.63 feet on July 10, 2023, and at Ranjit Sagar Dam, it was 505.41 meters, as compared to 520.2 meters on July 10, 2023, he said.

The minister said that all three reservoirs were operating safely with ample buffers from danger levels. He said the government has allocated Rs 204.5 crore for flood mitigation, and 4,766 kilometres of drains and choes (seasonal rivulet) have been desilted and cleaned.

He said projects for strengthening embankments have been undertaken under the State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF).

A total of 53,400 bamboos have been planted, 1,044 check dams built, 3,957 soak pits and 294 kilometres of vetiver grass plantations introduced to enhance soil stability, he said. Goyal said control rooms are active across the state, emergency response teams are on standby, and real-time monitoring of rivers and drains is underway across vulnerable zones.

He said the government has put robust systems in place at the ground level and is planning to respond swiftly and effectively to any flood threat.

Earlier, the Sultanpur MLA drew the attention of the House towards the increase in water level in the reservoirs of the dams due to heavy rainfall in Himachal Pradesh, a marker of flood risk for Punjab.

He also pointed towards the "poor condition" of embankments along the Beas River. Rana Inder Pratap Singh said that in the past six months, he identified 12 to 15 critical locations between Harike and Dhilwan where the embankments were "alarmingly weak" and highly susceptible to breaches during rising water levels in the reservoirs.

Singh said the vulnerabilities were shared in detail with the concerned deputy commissioner and the cabinet minister, and formal reminders were also sent. However, no concrete steps were taken, he claimed.

The lawmaker emphasised that all repair and strengthening work needed could have been executed under the MGNREGA scheme, yet the situation persists. Citing an example, he reminded the House that during the 2023 floods, an isolated embankment spanning nearly 125 acres near the Goindwal bridge had obstructed the natural water flow.

(editor@dailyworld.in)