Chandigarh, Aug 26 (IANS) A crucial new embankment in Punjab's Ferozepur district has been set up to check flooding from Pakistan, officials said on Monday.
Due to heavy discharge of water from Pakistan, the Tendiwala embankment along the Indo-Pakistan border was damaged early on Monday, posing a threat of flooding in at least 17 villages on the Indian side.
The Drainage Department prepared a new ring embankment which would provide more strength and protection to the existing one and subsequently guard against release of excess water from Pakistan, a government spokesman told IANS.
The new ring embankment, close to the existing one, is much higher and will safeguard the sudden rise of water in the river, he added.
For the past three days, local authorities were working on a war footing to strengthen the 50-feet existing embankment in Tendiwala village along the swollen Satluj river with the assistance of the Indian Army, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the locals.
Over 17 villages located on the right bank of the Satluj and along the Indo-Pakistan border were facing a flood threat owing to the strong current of water coming from Kasur in Pakistan, an official told IANS.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday asked the Water Resources Department to work out a joint action plan to strengthen the embankment to avert the flooding of nearby villages.
Locals say that Pakistan has released toxic water from its tanneries into the Satluj that has created havoc in their villages.
The Satluj water enters Pakistan via a creek and because of the river's natural course, one of its tributaries flows back near Tendiwala village.
This season it brought huge flows of highly toxic waste of leather tanneries in Kasur district of Pakistan into India.
The pollutants have caused skin-related diseases in the villages along the border. Even livestock has been affected.
Gatti Rajoke, the last village in India before the international border, is one of the worst affected due to the water released by Pakistan.