Church joins relief effort as floods devastate northern India

Around 200 relief camps were set up for the 22,854 people initially evacuated from the affected areas of Punjab after the worst floods recorded since 1988.

Cloud bursts causing torrential rain, landslides and flash floods took a huge toll in India’s northern states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand.

Punjab was the worst hit in terms of number of villages, population, livestock and the crop area affected, recording 46 deaths.

All its 23 districts were declared flood hit, and as many as 1,996 villages and 387,000 people were affected. Hundreds of livestock perished while there was also significant destruction of crops, with 17,445 hectares of land submerged.

Punjab, known as the “bread basket”, is a major source for agricultural production, particularly of staples like wheat and rice. These floods were the worst recorded there since 1988.

Around 200 relief camps were set up for the 22,854 people initially evacuated from the affected areas of Punjab.

As the Ravi, Sutlej and Chenab rivers burst their banks, flood waters inundated large swathes of land. The seven districts of Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Fazilka, Ferozepur, Kapurthala, Pathankot and Hoshiarpur have borne the brunt of the damage.

In Hoshiarpur district, flood waters seeped into the Sacred Heart Church in Khanaura, with the waters reaching up to the altar, Sr Ekta Stephen told The Tablet.

“In our convent too, water entered the ground floor and we were forced to move to upper floors. Fortunately, we had stocked essential provisions,” she said.

“There is massive destruction – hundreds of hectares of paddy about to be harvested is under water. There are 30 slums located near a dry river bed are all marooned. Most slum dwellers are daily wagers.”

She continued: “Along with the Carmelite priests and Holy Family sisters, we are helping out in providing food packets, essential items like toiletries and sanitary pads etc. to them.”

Priests from the Order of Discalced Carmelite (OCD) and its social wings – the Carmelite Social Service and Carmelite Charitable Society – took a leading part in relief efforts.

Fr Thomas Puthenpurackal OCD, director of the Carmelite Social Service, told The Tablet that “we have distributed thousands of food packets, toiletries and other essential items and continue do so”.

“Nuns from different congregations are helping in disbursing relief material to the marooned in interior villages and slums where no relief is reaching them,” he said. “Ours is a door-to-door service. We are also collaborating with the government. Every parish in the district is involved in relief measures.”

Sr Stephen reported that “many people in the huts have been housed in Catholic schools. Students, their parents and teachers of Mount Carmel School are also assisting in the relief operations braving incessant rains.”

Fr Thomas Mathews, procurator of the Diocese of Jalandhar, said the situation in Gurdaspur and Amritsar districts of Punjab was even worse. Nearly 30 villages are submerged, including two convents of the Sisters of Nazareth, several convent schools and a presbytery.

In Jammu and Kashmir, at least 40 people died and scores were injured as torrential rains triggered major landslides.

Floodwaters entered several urban pockets in three districts as the Jhelum river breached an embankment, forcing the authorities to evacuate around 9,000 people.

The same story unfolded in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh with cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides claiming at least 366 lives.

Four people were killed and hundreds were left missing after a village in Uttarakhand state was hit by landslides and floods.

India shares several major rivers with Pakistan, where 880 people have been killed in the flooding. The two nations blamed each other as swollen rivers cause authorities to release water from dams, further flooding areas on both sides of the border.

Catholic bishops have expressed their “deep anguish and profound solidarity” with the flood-hit people of the northern states.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) urged Catholics to join in prayer and provide assistance to those suffering from extensive loss of life, property and livelihoods, emphasising that “the thoughts and prayers of its member bishops are with the victims and their families” while Caritas India joined relief efforts and rehabilitation work.

The CBCI statement added that the increasing frequency and intensity of these disasters, driven by climate change and unsustainable development in the fragile Himalayan region, was deeply worrying.

Stay updated — add us as a preferred news source on Google: