Punjab: Ferozepur SSP assures to rebuild house of a flood-hit family

Ferozepur/Hoshiarpur, Sep 9 (PTI) Senior Superintendent of Police in Punjab's Ferozepur on Tuesday assured a flood affected family in Navi Gatti Rajoke villages along the India-Pakistan border that their damaged house will be rebuilt at his personal initiative.

During his visit to the village, SSP Bhupinder Singh came to know that the house of 52-year-old Balwant Singh had suffered extensive damage after five feet of floodwater entered the premises.

The roofs of all three rooms collapsed as the prolonged waterlogging weakened the mud structure.

The family, already struggling with poverty, had been left without proper shelter.

"I was informed about the family's plight and immediately came to see the situation myself. Their house will be rebuilt, for which the work will be started from tomorrow morning," said the SSP while assuring the family of all kinds of support in coming out from the precarious situation.

Balwant Singh, whose brothers -- Heera Singh (48) and Kuldeep Singh (42) -- also live in the same house with their families, recalled the ordeal.

"We were forced to live on the rooftops when water entered the house. During rains, we would get drenched as well. This is the first time in many years we have faced such a natural calamity," he said, adding that eventually the roof also became too weak and they could not stay there any further.

The family expressed gratitude to the SSP for his benevolence, saying his support had given them a ray of hope for rebuilding, not only the house, but resurrecting their lives after the devastating floods.

Meanwhile, in Hoshiarpur, families displaced by floods in several villages along the Beas river have begun returning home after water receded.

Manjit Singh (54), a resident of Rara village, on Wednesday said his family and others had been camping under tarpaulin sheets on tractor-trolleys near Rara bridge on the Tanda-Sri Hargobindpur road for over two weeks after their houses were inundated.

"Now that water has gone down, almost all families have returned. But our houses are full of mud, walls have cracked, and crops are destroyed. The real test begins now-how to survive again," he said, adding that they were hoping for government assistance.

David Masih of Kolian village, said, "Water has receded from the village but all crops have been ruined. Farmers and poor families are waiting for government relief." Officials said the decrease in discharge from the Pong dam has lowered water levels in low-lying areas.

In Tanda subdivision, water is still standing in some fields, while in Mukerian subdivision it has largely receded.

Villages such as Gandhowal, Rara Mand, Talhi, Salempur, Abdullapur, Mewa Miani, Fatta Kulla, Motla, Haler Janardhan, Sanial, Kolian, Naushehra and Mehtabpur were among the worst hit by the floods.

According to officials, the Pong dam's water level was 1,390.37 feet on Tuesday, with inflow and outflow at 32,000 cusecs and 40,000 cusecs respectively. PTI COR CHS NB NB