MP Satnam Singh Sandhu raises issue of Punjab’s recurring flood crisis in Parliament, requests Joint Flood Management Mechanism for Punjab, Haryana and HP
Babushahi Bureau
New Delhi, July 29, 2026: Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) Satnam Singh Sandhu raised the issue of recurrent floods in Punjab through a Special Mention in the Rajya Sabha during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, urging the Union Government to formulate an integrated flood management mechanism for the region.
Calling for a long-term and scientific approach to flood mitigation, MP Satnam Sandhu sought the establishment of a legally backed joint flood management mechanism for Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, supported by real-time reservoir monitoring, advanced flood forecasting and time-bound desilting of major reservoirs.
Drawing the attention of the House to the growing challenge of siltation in major reservoirs, MP Satnam Singh Sandhu said, “Bhakra Dam was originally constructed with a storage capacity of 9.27 billion cubic metres but it has lost nearly 2.13 billion cubic metres of its storage capacity due to heavy siltation. At several locations in the Gobind Sagar reservoir, the silt deposits have reached depths of nearly 100 to 200 feet that has reduced the reservoir’s water-holding capacity and increasing the risk of floods during periods of heavy rainfall.”
Citing the widespread destruction caused by the 2023 monsoon floods, MP Satnam Sandhu said, “Twenty-one out of 23 districts of Punjab were affected by floods and more than 1,400 villages were inundated with over 2 lakh hectares of agricultural land went under water. In the devastating floods more than 4 lakh people were affected and 50 people lost their lives. Rescue operations by the NDRF, SDRF, the Army and the Air Force led to the evacuation of over 20,000 people.”
Praising the Union Government for reviving and completing the nearly three-decade-old Shahpurkandi Dam Project under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, MP Satnam Singh Sandhu said, “The successful completion of the Shahpurkandi Dam project demonstrates that political will can overcome even decades-old challenges. The project remained pending for nearly three decades before being revived after 2014. In December 2018, the Union Government approved its implementation and sanctioned ₹485.38 crore through NABARD proving that long-pending infrastructure projects can be delivered through coordinated government action and decisive policy intervention.”
Calling for urgent policy measures to minimize future flood damage, MP Satnam Sandhu said, “The government should make hourly monitoring of water levels and discharge from the Bhakra and Pong dams publicly available. Time-bound desilting of reservoirs must be ensured, while comprehensive catchment-area treatment programmes should be implemented to enhance water storage capacity and strengthen the region’s resilience to floods.”
While emphasizing the need for stronger inter-state coordination, MP Sandhu further added, “There is an urgent need to establish a legally backed joint flood management mechanism involving Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Such a mechanism should provide for shared flood forecasting systems, real-time exchange of hydrological data and coordinated evacuation protocols so that timely action can be taken to protect lives, livelihoods and infrastructure during flood situations.”
MP Satnam Singh Sandhu said that recurring floods have emerged as one of the biggest challenges for Punjab in recent years, causing extensive losses to agriculture, public infrastructure and rural livelihoods almost every year. He stressed, “While disaster response mechanisms have improved over the years, equal emphasis must now be placed on prevention through scientific reservoir management, modern forecasting technologies, restoration of storage capacities and coordinated policy interventions.”
MP Sandhu added that strengthening the flood management systems would not only enhance disaster preparedness but also contribute to climate resilience, water security and sustainable development across the region.
Drawing inspiration from the successful implementation of the Shahpurkandi Dam project, Sandhu urged the Union Government to adopt a similarly focused and time-bound approach towards modernising flood management infrastructure and institutional coordination to protect Punjab against future flood disasters.