Punjab: When floods laid bare the failure of the state

They say adversity reveals the soul of a people — sometimes their finest steel, sometimes their darkest flaws. Punjab, long mocked and dismissed as a wasteland of drugs, dons and dharnas, a land abandoned by its own children in search of hope elsewhere, has once again stunned the cynics. When pushed to the edge, the state has shown its true mettle.

The last time the state witnessed floods on such a scale was in 1988. With all four of its rivers — Ravi, Beas, Sutlej and Ghaggar — in full spate, all 23 districts were affected. More than 2,000 villages were submerged, over 4.5 lakh acres of cropland damaged, nearly 5 lakh trees uprooted and losses estimated at Rs 20,000 crore.

It was the collective resolve, the grit, camaraderie and selfless service of the Punjabi people — the indomitable spirit of ‘Chardi Kala’ (optimism and enthusiasm) — that rose to combat this calamity.

Ordinary people, social and political organisations, influencers, celebrities, NRIs and others joined forces to provide money, food, fodder and medicine to those affected — humans and animals alike. Youngsters risked their lives on tractor-trolleys, braving swirling waters to rescue people and strengthen embankments and bunds.

Doctors set up free medical camps. Women filled sandbags and prepared langar for the flood victims. Thousands of volunteers turned up to put their collective shoulder to the wheel. Enterprising Punjabis turned workshops into boat-building hubs; ingeniously-built boats ferried thousands of stranded people to safety.

Celebrities pitched in. Popular Punjabi singers (Mankirat Aulakh, Diljit Dosanjh, Gippy Grewal, Karan Aujla), Bollywood actors (Akshay Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan, Sonu Sood, Vicky Kaushal), cricketers (Yuvraj Singh, Shubman Gill) were generous with donations, flood relief materials and more. Punjabi YouTube channels like Akhar, SMTV and Lok Awaz provided coverage, kept viewers updated, mobilised resources through helplines.

Support poured in from states beyond Punjab, with communities from Haryana and Rajasthan stepping up to help. Among the most active were the Muslims of the Mewat region.

Social media and digital networks proved crucial in connecting people, coordinating aid and responding to emergencies. Mobilisation on such a scale was last seen during the kisan agitation when Punjab’s indigenous networks, grassroots organisations and community-led resources all pulled together.

Perhaps it’s time to acknowledge the ‘Punjab model’ — rooted in Chardi Kala, committed to sarbat da bhala, and expressed through sewa — a model based on the strength, unity and resilience of Punjab’s civil society. Unlike the much-hyped ‘Gujarat model’, the Punjab model is not just about prosperity — it is about a people who show us what courage and compassion look like.

In stark contrast to the unyielding spirit of its people, Punjab’s state machinery stood thoroughly exposed. Despite repeated warnings, there was no serious planning, no urgency in convening review meetings, no timely release of funds. Boats were scarce, drainage channels lay choked and relief infrastructure remained illusory.

Instead of planning, organising and coordinating flood-relief on a war-footing, ministers, MLAs and bureaucrats were more inclined towards photo-ops — which were mercilessly trolled on social media.

What floated to the surface for all to see was not just bureaucratic lethargy, but a damning portrait of irresponsibility and criminal neglect at the highest levels of administration.

The role of the central government-controlled Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) also came under intense scrutiny.

Many blamed the destructive deluge on the Board’s lack of transparency and the arbitrary and the sudden release of waters from the Bhakra and Pong dams.

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If the floods proved anything, it was the failure of political leaders to provide leadership when most needed — chiefly the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and chief minister Bhagwant Mann. Accused of mismanagement, negligence and vanishing from the public eye during the crucial early days, Mann drew widespread criticism. His flippant remarks and cringeworthy staged photo-ops were lampooned, reinforcing the perception of a leader out of his depth in a crisis.

Meanwhile, the AAP’s Delhi heavyweights, Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia — often viewed as the real power behind Punjab’s government — were not spared either for being AWOL, appearing only to participate in equally tone-deaf publicity stunts.

The AAP, which has long prided itself on its carefully curated narratives, simply unravelled. The other parties and leaders didn’t cover themselves with glory, either. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP were panned for their delayed, almost cavalier, response to the floods.

Modi’s announcement of a relief package of Rs 1,600 crore during his (belated) visit on 9 September was seen as grossly inadequate in light of the estimated damage worth Rs 20,000 crore. Already on the defensive over its own (mis)handling of the disaster, the AAP doubled down on attacking the prime minister — primarily through its social media channels — for what it called a ‘token response’.

In a political landscape marked largely by absence, apathy and ineffectiveness, a few figures managed to salvage some credibility.

Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal stood out for his swift, pragmatic response — delivering essentials like diesel and cash to affected communities when institutional support was missing.

Congress leader Rana Gurjit Singh also saw his stock rise, as he dipped into his considerable personal resources to reinforce embankments around the vulnerable Mand area.

Even former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, whose political relevance had faded since the last election, regained visibility through sustained relief work in the Chamkaur Sahib region.

Such initiatives were, however, exceptions — not the norm.

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With major floods hitting Punjab in 2019, 2023 and now again in 2025, it is no longer possible to treat these disasters as isolated events. The frequency and intensity of flooding should push environment and climate-related issues to the forefront of the state’s political discourse — but that shift is yet to materialise. Problems such as unchecked sand mining, the failure to de-silt dams and riverbeds, rampant encroachments, weakened embankments and the illegal occupation of floodplains are not new.

What’s new is the growing public awareness of the ways in which corruption, negligence and bureaucratic incompetence across state departments have made them worse. As the damage mounts, so too, one hopes, will the pressure on political leaders to stop treating climate resilience as an afterthought.

Widely viewed in Punjab as a man-made disaster, the floods have heightened the state’s longstanding mistrust of Delhi.

Already burdened by drugs, unemployment and agrarian distress, Punjab’s sense of alienation — ignited during the farmers’ protests — has only deepened with the state and Centre’s inadequate and incompetent flood response.

The indifferent performance of the Delhi-centric AAP, the steady decline of the Akali Dal and the unsettling rise of radical figures like Amritpal Singh have all contributed to Punjab’s sense of despair, discontent and disappointment.

The recent floods, which ravaged the border districts of Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur and Fazilka — areas that are predominantly agrarian and historically volatile — have added to this unrest. As mainstream parties flounder, the vacuum is increasingly being filled by radical groups, raising the spectre of a dangerous political shift in regions once scarred by militancy.