Punjab Floods Not an Act of God, But Man-Made: Navjot Sidhu

September 5, 2025

Chandigarh: Former Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday slammed the state and central authorities over the devastating floods in Punjab, calling them a “failure of prevention” and a “man-made disaster” rather than an unavoidable act of nature.

Sidhu, in a strongly worded statement, said it was “painful to see the people of Punjab suffer when all this was avoidable,” accusing authorities of failing to prepare and instead reacting only after the damage was done.

“Five Rivers Turned from Boon to Curse”

Sidhu alleged that Punjab’s five rivers, once a lifeline, have been turned into a curse through sustained mismanagement, including illegal riverbed mining, chronic siltation, and poor operation of reservoirs and embankments.

He said unregulated sand and gravel extraction had destabilised riverbeds and weakened flood defences, while years of unchecked siltation had reduced the storage and flow capacity of rivers and reservoirs.

Faulty Dam Operations Worsened Floods

Citing best practices and Indian standards, Sidhu said precautionary drawdown of dams ahead of extreme monsoon inflows was not followed. He accused the Bhakra-Beas Management Board (BBMB) of failing to coordinate releases properly, thereby worsening flooding downstream.

“If the Centre and technical boards knew rains would be unprecedented, reservoir operations should have reflected that knowledge,” he said.

Governance and Preparedness Failures

Sidhu said national and state flood guidelines — including floodplain mapping, early warning systems, and real-time coordination — were either incomplete or ignored. “Communities were left unprotected and relief was reactive, not preventive,” he added.

Demands for Accountability

Raising “plain questions” for the government, Sidhu asked why dam levels were not lowered in time, why weak embankments were not repaired or investigated for illegal mining, and why Punjab still lacks a funded, science-based sediment management plan.

“While politicians continue to feed their greed, Punjab continues to suffer,” Sidhu said, adding that the human cost of the floods — with widespread inundation, marooned villages, and destroyed farmland — was being amplified by avoidable failures.