A big chunk of the Indo-Pak border in Punjab’s Ferozepur sector is flooded and the Punjab government is angry with Pakistan for the mess.
Pakistan has raised an embankment at its Sulenmanki headworks, close to the border, to stop the flow to Sutlej and this has pushed the water back to the Indian side.
Punjab irrigation minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon said Pakistan was “doing deliberate mischief” to increase problems for people on the Indian side. He said the Centre should use its diplomatic channels to stop Pakistan from building embankments.
“Pakistan built a bund to stop water from entering its territory, but this is against international law and against provisions of the Indus Water Treaty, signed by India and Pakistan in 1960 on the use and regulation of common rivers,” he said.
Sekhon demanded that the Centre take up flood protection for Punjab rivers as an national project and sanction Rs1,100 crore to build roads along embankments to strengthen them.
“We submitted a proposal for the project to the Central Water Commission (CWC) six months ago. Chief minister Parkash Singh Badal even met commission members but nothing more has been done,” he said.
Water from Sutlej has started entering a number of villages near the Hussainiwala joint checkpost, on the border, all because of the artificial barrier at Sulenmanki. People from 12 villages in Ferozepur have started leaving because their homes are filled with floodwater.
Some have been taken in by their relatives, but a majority of them are living out in the open.
