Human Activities Worsen Floods in Punjab

Floods in Punjab have become a recurring nightmare for the region, with devastating effects on human lives and infrastructure. While floods are a natural disaster caused by overflowing rivers during monsoons, human factors such as poor management and lack of cleanliness of drains, canals, and choe, choked natural waterways, weak and poorly maintained dhussi bandhs, lack of green cover, illegal mining, and deforestation have maximised the destruction brought in by floods.

Key Takeaways:

• The 1988 floods in Punjab claimed over 500 lives, with the worst happening in September when the floodgates of Bhakra and Pong dams were opened after unprecedented rainfall in catchment areas, causing widespread destruction and loss of life.
• A comparative study of 1988 and 1993 floods conducted by the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC) suggested that "in 1988, the flooding was mainly due to overflowing of rivers, whereas in 1993, it was caused by breaches in rivers and canals' embankments".
• The PRSC study highlighted several human causes leading to flooding in Punjab, including poor maintenance of dhussi bandhs and embankments on the rivers, lack of maintenance of canals and choe banks, and inadequate drainage systems.
• A study by Sucha Singh, assistant professor, geography, Panjab University, Chandigarh, conducted following the 2013 flooding, found that the major reasons for flooding in Punjab included breaching of temporary embankments along rivers and increasing encroachments on the floodplains of the rivers.
• A study titled "Temporal analysis of floods in Punjab, India 1990 to 2010," found that major causes of flood in the state were the tributaries not being cleaned, water overflowing and breaching embankments, non-strengthening of the river bandhs, and farmer-made relief cuts in canals at many locations.
• Dr. Gurdev Singh Hira, retired additional director research, PAU, attributed the severity of floods in Punjab to human activities such as concretisation and deforestation in Himachal Pradesh, climate change changing rain patterns in the subcontinent, and the lack of green cover in Punjab.

Statistics:

• Over 500 lives were claimed in the 1988 floods in Punjab.
• 57 more lives were claimed by floods in Punjab from September 4 to October 2, 1988, with 2 lakh people marooned in 1,483 villages and crops destroyed worth crores of rupees.
• At least 74,000 tonnes of foodgrain were destroyed in mandis during the 1988 floods.
• Over 300 lives were claimed in the 1993 floods in Punjab, with 6,200 cattle perishing.
• 18% of Punjab was flooded in 1988, while at least 19.4% area was flooded in 1993.
• 2.21 lakh hectares of cropped area, mainly under paddy, were damaged in the 2023 floods in Punjab.

Sources:

• Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Pune, report published on the 1988 floods.
• Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC) study on the comparative analysis of 1988 and 1993 floods.
• Sucha Singh's study on the 2013 flooding in Punjab.
• "Temporal analysis of floods in Punjab, India 1990 to 2010."
• Interview with Dr. Gurdev Singh Hira, retired additional director research, PAU.