Jalandhar, July 4 -- For the farmers of Kapurthala's low-lying Mand area, the approach of the monsoon spells dread instead of relief. Rebuilding the advanced bundhs-the frontline, community-built embankments designed to shield crops before the river reaches the state's main defences-has proven impossible without government funding. During the 2025 devastating floods, the swollen Beas river completely obliterated three of these critical barriers at Khijarpur and Rampur Goran villages. Today, the river has altered its natural course entirely, flowing directly over what used to be prime agricultural land. "The river now flows straight over what was once a neighbourhood of 10 houses and hundreds of acres of farmland," says Bakhtaur Singh, 65, a farmer from Rampur Goran, a village isolated on the volatile Baupur island. "Everyone from our village has been forced to flee to Nabipur village on the safer side of the main Dhussi Bundh, but we still own and try to cultivate the land left near the water." Ranjodh Singh, a farmer from neighbouring Aahli Kalan-the only village where residents managed to self-fund and patch their embankment-warned that time has run out. "The heavy water flow makes it impossible for us to rebuild these defences alone. If the water rises in the coming days, the entire Mand area right up to the Dhussi Bundh will be flooded." This palpable fear is rooted in a brutal reality: Residents in the floodplains between the Dhussi Bundh and the Beas and Sutlej rivers have weathered two major floods in the past three years. The most recent onslaught in 2025 left the worst-hit pockets of Sultanpur Lodhi-including Sangra, Mand Mubarakpur, Muhammadabad, Baupur Kadim, Baupur Jadid, Rampur Gura, Mand Bandu Jadid, Bhaini Karim Baksh, and Bhaini Bahadur-waterlogged for over 50 days from August 10 onward. Data from the state administration reveals the staggering scale of Punjab's recurring vulnerability. While all 23 districts of the state have previously been declared disaster-hit, seven border and riverine districts of Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Fazilka, Ferozepur, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, and Pathankot continually bear 85% of the human brunt. In peak flood years, these seven districts alone account for 3.29 lakh of the 3.87 lakh affected citizens across nearly 2,000 villages. They also shoulder 75% of the agricultural fallout, losing 3.25 lakh acres of crops out of 4.31 lakh acres statewide, with fatalities driven primarily by drowning, house collapses, and electrocution. Having survived the 2023 and 2025 disasters, local farmers have managed to rebuild their lives with just one hope: That they will not lose their newly sown paddy or be forced to evacuate their families yet again. However, the situation on the ground tells a different story. Heaps of dumped sand still blanket parts of Kapurthala, Gurdaspur, and Tarn Taran districts, while uneven fields and altered river channels offer zero protection against the incoming monsoon. Faced with this ticking clock, the state machinery claims it is racing to mobilise logistics. Following past failures, the department of irrigation and drainage set up a special committee led by two superintending engineers, identifying 132 highly vulnerable points along Punjab's river networks and earmarking a flood-prevention budget of Rs.600 crore. Punjab irrigation minister Barinder Kumar Goyal defended the state's preparedness, noting that a June 30 deadline was set to secure all sites. "While I don't have the exact figures, around Rs.450 crore has already been spent on strengthening weak points along the Sutlej, Beas, Ravi, Ghaggar, and seasonal rivulets," Goyal said, adding the remaining Rs.150 crore will be spent in the coming days. He added that past breaches were due to 40-year record inflows from catchment areas. In a stark warning to Mand residents, he said: "We have ensured vulnerable points on the Dhussi Bundh are plugged. However, people in low-lying areas should move to safer places. The government cannot build a secondary embankment between the Dhussi and the river to protect agricultural land." However, local representatives and environmentalists call the government's claims an exercise on paper. Sultanpur Lodhi MLA Rana Inder Partap Singh countered the minister, alleging that crucial funds were withheld from his constituency despite repeated written warnings. "Fifty-four vulnerable locations were identified in the Mand area of Sultanpur Lodhi. The reality is that 30 locations have not been touched at all, and work on another 20 has not been completed despite being crucial for protecting villages, agricultural land and public infrastructure," Rana Inder said. AAP Rajya Sabha member Balbir Singh Seechewal, who has worked extensively in Punjab's flood zones for decades, said both the Kapurthala and Jalandhar district administrations are lagging on monsoon preparedness. "Critical strengthening at sensitive points along the Sutlej, particularly at Mandala Channa village, has not even begun," Seechewal said. "The spot where four houses were washed away due to soil erosion last year has been strengthened with stone pitching worth Rs.16 crore. However, a Rs.6.5-crore project to install a new flood-protection spur (noch) to safeguard the same very vulnerable point at Dhussi embankment remains entirely on paper, as despite repeated discussion, no funds were issued for the same. If we fail to construct a new flood protection spur, the stone pitching will be of no use," he added. Drainage department executive engineer Sartaj Singh Randhawa said that ample sandbags, jumbo bags, and boats are being deployed at vulnerable points. "Our focus remains on the main Dhussi Bundh. The agricultural land in the Mand area sits in the natural creeks of the Beas, which naturally alter its channel and flow," he said. But for the farmers watching the dark clouds gather over the catchment areas, the technical explanations of changing river courses offer no comfort as they prepare to face the river alone. Gurnishan Singh, a farmer from Rampura Goran, said the government had compensated with the farmers for the loss of their crop according to the girdawari, while an amount of Rs.1.20 lakh each was given to the families whose houses were washed away in the deluge....