Patiala: During the Ghaggar floods, authorities made just photo ops and false promises

The Ghaggar River continues to be a major electoral problem for hundreds of villages in the Patiala Lok Sabha seat, as it overflows and causes significant damage, election after election. The locals claim that politicians have taken advantage of the situation and made empty promises during elections, yet the floods still plague them.

Not only did the river drown crops in 2023, but the disastrous floods left the whole belt bankrupt. The locals are furious because, before every election, politicians visit their communities and promise them a lasting solution. However, this time, they will not be duped by any candidate. Flooding occurs in Ghaggar nearly every two or three years and causes significant damage.

“The most important poll issue for us is that we need a long-term solution for Ghaggar. These candidates never come back after the polls, and their close advisors go on their own mining sprees. For more than 20 years, we have looked to the administration for a solution, but nothing has been done, said Gurwinder Singh, a resident of Sanaur who lost his paddy crop twice in the previous season. He said, “Land rates in our villages are extremely low and are not even half as high as in nearby villages that are not affected by floods.”

The river and the floods it causes continue to be a reoccurring subject for candidates from both parties, even though the impacted communities claim they no longer trust politicians. Often referred to as a “river of sorrow,” the Ghaggar is once again menacing political leaders. Politicians are back to their best with the Lok Sabha election just around the doorstep, promising a lot on the Ghaggar. Hundreds of communities in Ghaggar have suffered losses due to floods during the last thirty years.

Many of the villagers in the Ghanaur and Shutrana regions claim that this time they will not be voting for any candidate, despite their opposition to candidates entering their villages in the last two elections. “Everyone is the same.” They carried out their politics while we were in pain. They deliver food, get their photos taken, and then go. That’s sufficient. A villager added, “They should stop asking for votes in Ghaggar’s name; we need a permanent solution.”

Numerous villagers living next to the contaminated Ghaggar have health issues. The Ghaggar comes from Punjab and Haryana and flows into Rajasthan from Himachal Pradesh.

“On the 4-km section from where the Ghaggar rushes into the state, Haryana has built a toe wall to halt the damage in its territory. We lose people and property every monsoon, and pollution is slowly killing us,” said Gurpreet Singh of Hashampur Mangta, a hamlet at the end of Sanaur.

The rain-fed Ghaggar River devastated thousands of acres of farmland and destroyed homes in hundreds of villages in the Punjabi districts of SAS Nagar, Patiala, Mansa, and Sangrur in 2023. Ghana was the most severely affected, and more damage wasn’t prevented until after a breach towards Haryana.

Affected locals are in no mood to trust anybody, despite candidates’ claims that they would do all in their power to prevent the villages from suffering as a result of the Ghaggar floods. “Enough is enough for us. According to Gurwinder Singh, a resident of Dharmerhi, nothing has changed in the last thirty years. “They will all come, visit their supporters in our villages, and then vanish, only to return the next poll season.”