Chandigarh: Punjab’s Finance, Planning, Excise and Taxation Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema, announced today that the Punjab Government is highly serious about protecting the state from floods permanently. To this end, plans are in place to clean, deepen, and widen the Ravi and Sutlej rivers which fall under the state’s jurisdiction, while permission has been sought from the Central Government to clean the Beas River, designated as a Ramsar site. Speaking to reporters in Dirba, Cheema highlighted the significant losses suffered by Punjab due to floods in 2023 and 2025, emphasizing that desilting the rivers is a critical need to ensure long-term flood protection. He noted that 28 locations along the Beas River requiring urgent cleaning have been identified and urged the Central Government to provide maximum support for this initiative.
Cheema strongly opposed the Central Government’s proposal to grant permanent membership to Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan in the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), calling it an injustice to Punjab’s people that would not be tolerated. He affirmed that the Punjab Government would not allow other states to gain control over the BBMB.
On the same day, Cheema presented a Diwali gift to the residents of his Dirba Assembly constituency by laying foundation stones and inaugurating development projects worth Rs. 11.46 crore. These include a Rs. 2.5 crore canal water project in Chhajli village, connecting farmers’ fields to canal water via a 13-km pipeline to address the issue of defunct tube wells due to a deepening water table. Additionally, work has begun on 17.35 km of roads costing Rs. 8.81 crore, including upgrading the 4-km Dhandial to Patran road to 18 feet wide and constructing new roads from Dhandial to Hariau (4.25 km), Dhandial to Shadihari (3.10 km), Dhandial to Chunagra (3 km), and Khetla to Kakuwala (3 km). A dharamshala for the SC community in Maidewas village, built at a cost of Rs. 15 lakh, was also dedicated to the public.
Addressing various events, Cheema reiterated that under Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann’s leadership, the Punjab Government has been working tirelessly for the state’s all-round development over the past three and a half years. He emphasized efforts to strengthen healthcare, education, and infrastructure, noting that previous governments’ flawed policies had hindered progress. The government is committed to meeting public expectations with honest intentions, ensuring no compromise on the quality of development projects. For the first time, contractors will maintain the new rural roads for five years. Cheema urged residents to monitor the projects to ensure satisfactory completion.
Present at the events were SDM Dirba Rajesh Kumar Sharma, Pritam Singh Pitu (Chairman, Improvement Trust, Sangrur), Tapinder Singh Sohi (OSD to Finance Minister), Jasvir Kaur Shergill (Chairperson, Market Committee, Dirba), and a large number of local residents.
