Mohali: Rajya Sabha MP Satnam Singh Sandhu on Tuesday urged the Centre to establish a legally backed joint flood management mechanism for Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, citing recurring floods and shrinking reservoir capacity due to siltation.Raising the issue through a special mention in the Rajya Sabha, Sandhu called for a long-term flood mitigation strategy comprising real-time reservoir monitoring, advanced flood forecasting, coordinated evacuation protocols and time-bound desilting of major reservoirs.Referring to Bhakra Dam, Sandhu said it had lost nearly 2.13 billion cubic metres of its original 9.27 billion cubic metres storage capacity because of heavy siltation. In parts of the Gobind Sagar reservoir, silt deposits have reached depths of 100-200 ft, reducing the reservoir’s water-holding capacity and increasing flood risk during heavy rainfall, he said.Highlighting the impact of the 2023 floods, Sandhu said 21 of Punjab’s 23 districts were affected, with over 1,400 villages inundated and more than 2 lakh hectares of farmland submerged. More than 4 lakh people were affected and 50 people lost their lives, while the NDRF, SDRF, Army and Air Force evacuated over 20,000 people.Sandhu urged the Centre to make hourly data on water levels and discharge from the Bhakra and Pong dams publicly available, undertake time-bound desilting of reservoirs and implement catchment area treatment programmes. He said a joint mechanism should enable real-time sharing of hydrological data, common flood forecasting and coordinated response among the three states to minimise damage to lives and property.
