Amid lockdown, more than half of Satluj river bed desilted

JALANDHAR: Desilting in Satluj river around the railway bridge at Gidarpindi continues and more than half of the river bed has already been cleared. Over Rs 1.25 crore has already been spent on diesel as part of this major public-funded desilting operation. Farmers have also borne expenses of hiring earth moving machines, tippers and tractor-trolleys equipped with hydraulic lift.
The massive silting under and around the bridge was considered to be a major reason for floods in the region last year. Out of 21 spans of the bridge, 18 needed desilting as these had a gap of just three to four feet under the bridge. Such reduction in space under the bundh added to pressure on it and increased the risk of flood. Desilting work was started around four months back.
“We continued the work during lockdown as we wanted to complete it before rainy season this year. Another impact of the lockdown was that there were no other engagements and we focused all our energies here for around two months,” said environmentalist Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal, who is leading the endeavour.
He added, “We have already desilted 12 spans and we had to suspend work after water was released in the river from the dam. We intend to resume work to clear eight more spans when the quantum of water decreases. A major difference from previous years is that when water was released, it flowed through the centre of the river bed, unlike previous years when it would flow through one side of the river bed under the bridge as the river bed was low only under those spans.”
The operation is entirely public funded and government involvement is limited to facilitating the work by giving or arranging mandatory clearances through coordination between different departments. Baba Seechewal has been paying the hefty diesel bill from donations by philanthropists – both from the Punjabi diaspora and people in the state. The silt taken out of the river has been used to strengthen the Dhussi bundh of the river.