Madaarpur (Moga), August 17
The Sutlej continues to give sleepless nights to people in Moga and Ferozepur districts. The breaches that developed in the river on Saturday morning have further widened. The water level in the river came down by about one foot in the morning but it again started to rise as the day progressed today.

Floodwater entered into 25 more villages in Ferozepur district. People of 12 villages of Moga district were already inundated. The worst affected areas in Ferozepur district included Kussuwala Mor, Akbarwala, Tarewala, Sille Pind, Mandaar, Lalhe, Mundi Shuriwal, Burj Mohammad Shah and outskirts of Jogewala.

Irrigation minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon and district magistrate Megh Raj had called an emergency meeting of officials of the district administration and the Army at Makhu this evening.

Earlier, Sekhon visited Madaarpur village in Moga district to review the situation. Talking to The Tribune, he said the district administration had been asked to carry out a survey of the total loss.

Meanwhile, the civil administration with the help of the Army and volunteers provided affected people with potable water, cooked food and medicines, besides, vaccination of the cattle.

Officiating district magistrate of Moga V. K. Meena said the administration had set up five relief camps.

Dr Adarsh Sood, chief medical officer of Moga district, said medical teams were fully alert to avoid outbreak of water-borne diseases in the flood-affected villages. The deputy director of the animal husbandry department, Dr P.C. Mittal, said they had given 600 injections of ‘haemorrhagic septicemia’ to the cattle in the past 24 hours, besides vaccinating 370 buffaloes and cows.

Hundreds of people were still stuck on the rooftops of their houses in Moga district. Officials claimed that they were not willing to be moved to safer places. But, women alleged that the administration had not assured safety of their household items, forcing men members of their families to stay back.

People alleged that the district administration had supplied them with worn-out polythene sheets. Those were of little use to cover their household items kept on the rooftops of their houses.

Local religious organisations have been providing food to flood victims. “Dal, roti with achaar is very tasty”, said Sumitra, Manjit Kaur, Veero, Maya, Dalip Kaur who were lined up on the banks of the Sutlej to have food.