The monsoon season brings relief from summer heat, but sometimes it brings more than people can handle. Right now, the Beas river rises to levels that have everyone in Punjab worried, and the situation is changing by the hour.
Here’s what’s happening – and why thousands of families are closely watching the water levels.
Water Levels Hit Alarming Heights
When the Beas river rises like it has this week, it’s not just numbers on a chart. We’re talking about 1.25 lakh cusecs of water rushing downstream – that’s enough water to fill several football stadiums every few minutes.
The Beas river rises have reached critical levels, forcing officials to issue flood warnings across multiple districts. Punjab’s border areas near Pakistan are feeling the impact most severely, with water crossing the danger mark and showing no signs of slowing down.
What makes this situation particularly concerning is that the Beas river rises aren’t happeningby themselves.
22 Villages Under Water
The hardest hit area is Sultanpur Lodhi, where the Beas river rises have completely flooded 22 villages in the Mand areas. These aren’t small puddles we’re talking about – some villages have four to six feet of standing water covering everything.
“The worst-affected villages — Baupur, Baupur Kadim, Jadid, and Sangra — had standing paddy crops submerged under four to six feet of water,” SDM Alka Kalia confirmed about the areas where the Beas river rises have caused maximum damage.
Imagine waking up to find your entire neighborhood underwater. That’s the reality for thousands of families right now as the Beas river rises continue to threaten their homes and livelihoods.
The Dam Connection
Part of why the Beas river rises have become so severe traces back to Pong Dam. Officials had to open four floodgates by 2 feet, releasing additional water into an already swollen river system.
The dam’s water level stands at 1366.68 feet – just 13 feet below the danger mark. When the Beas river rises get this input from dam releases, it creates a cascading effect that impacts communities hundreds of kilometers downstream.
“The BBMB had recently issued an advisory informing the civil administration, drainage, and flood control departments that if the water level crosses the danger mark in the coming days, the spillway gates of Pong Dam will be opened,” officials warned about potential additional releases that could make the Beas river rises even more dangerous.
Crops and Livelihoods at Risk
For farmers, watching the Beas river rises means watching their entire year’s work disappear under muddy water. Standing paddy crops across 25 to 30 acres of agricultural land in the Mand areas have already been damaged.
This isn’t just about this season’s harvest. When the Beas river rises flood agricultural land, the soil composition changes, salt deposits increase, and it can take years for the land to become fully productive again.
Wheat crops that farmers had carefully tended are now submerged. The timing couldn’t be worse – these crops were ready for harvest before the Beas river rises changed everything.
Emergency Response in Action
Local authorities aren’t sitting idle while the Beas river rises threaten communities.
SDM Baba Bakala Amandeep Singh stated that “teams have been deployed across the tehsil, with Naib Tehsildar Beas leading evacuation operations in the Mand area, relocating residents and livestock to higher ground.”
A control room has been set up to monitor the situation as the Beas river rises continue. Over 2,000 hospital beds are ready across districts, and 438 Rapid Response Teams, 323 Mobile Medical Teams, and 172 ambulances are on standby.
The Human Side of Flooding
While news reports focus on water levels and cubic measurements, the reality of what happens when the Beas river rises is much has serious human consequences. Families are losing their homes, farmers are watching crops drowning, and entire communities are being forced to move to safer areas.
Some residents in Baupur aren’t ready to leave their houses despite the flooding. “Residents of Baupur are not ready to leave their houses in the Mand areas but are shifting their belongings to safer places,” officials report about the difficult choices people are making as the Beas river rises threaten their communities.
Boats Become Lifelines
Rajya Sabha Member Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal has pressed motorboats into service, delivering cooked food and fodder for animals in the worst-affected areas. When roads disappear under water as the Beas river rises, boats become the only way to reach stranded communities.
These boats aren’t just carrying supplies – they’re bringing sick residents to hospitals and helping evacuate those who’ve finally decided they can’t wait any longer for the Beas river rises to subside.
The Broken River Wall
One of the biggest challenges facing authorities is a 100-foot-wide breach in the river embankment. “It is very difficult to plug the 100-ft-wide breach as the flow of gushing water is very high, and work on plugging would start when the water level decreases,” SDO Drainage Khushwinder Singh explained about the technical difficulties created by the Beas river rises.
The department is preparing thousands of sandbags, but they can’t start repair work until the Beas river rises level off. They have to wait for the water to calm down, and that delay is costing communities more damage with each passing hour.
Multiple Districts Affected
The impact of the Beas river rises extends beyond just one area. Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Fazilka, and Ferozepur districts are all dealing with flood-like conditions.
More than 20 villages in Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur alone have been affected. About 10 villages in the border district of Pathankot are also dealing with the consequences of the Beas river rises.
Weather Adds to Worries
The monsoon isn’t finished yet. Weather departments have issued red alerts for heavy rainfall, particularly in districts bordering Himachal Pradesh. Continuous rainfall in the hills means the Beas river rises could continue or even get worse in coming days.
“Heavy rain accompanied by lightning and strong winds reaching speeds of 30–40 km/h” are forecast, which could add even more water to the already strained river system.
Community Response
In times like these, communities often come together in remarkable ways. Followers of Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal are helping flood-affected farmers by bringing them to hospitals in motorboats for treatment.
Local farmers are working alongside officials to strengthen weak points in the embankments. “Work on strengthening four more weak points at the advance bundh is continuing with the help of farmers,” showing how communities rally when the Beas river rises threaten their neighbors.
Looking Ahead
Predicting when the Beas river rises will subside is difficult. It depends on rainfall patterns in both Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, dam water management decisions, and the river’s natural flow patterns.
Officials are monitoring the situation round the clock. Water Resources Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal has instructed authorities to ensure swift action measures and safeguard lives as the Beas river rises continue to pose challenges.
The immediate focus remains on keeping people safe and minimizing damage. Longer-term questions about flood management, broken river wall repairs, and agricultural recovery will have to wait until the Beas river rises return to manageable levels.
For now, thousands of people in Punjab are dealing with the reality that when the Beas river rises, life changes quickly. The strength of communities, effectiveness of emergency response, and hopefully some cooperation from the weather will determine how quickly normalcy returns to these flood-affected areas.
