Some pictures do paint a thousand words, like the one from Punjab’s Ajnala, 26km from Amritsar, posted online on Saturday.
An elderly man leans into the raging floodwaters, clutching the arm of a helper with one hand while reaching for a dog – that looks frozen in fear – with the other.
The floodwaters, brown with debris, silt and soil, swirl violently around them as the man grabs the dog’s coat with a determined hand to save the animal clinging to life.
Punjab is in the middle of one of its worst floods in recent years. MAny feel the Indian urban stray dog, too, is in danger.
The Supreme Court has put municipal action on stray dogs – capture, neuter, release if not aggressive – as priority. It has forbidden feeding them in open spaces.
The image, posted by Sardar Angad Singh (@Mrsinghspeaks84). captures the essence of humanity in the face of devastation. That people continue to risk their own safety to extend a helping hand to those in need.
It is also not an aside that it is in Punjab, and the man is Sikh. The community has after countless calamity across the globe leapt forward to help.
The morning after the deadly floods in Mumbai on July 26, 2005, too, the Sikh community was on the arterial roads distributing water and food to the people wading through the waters to get home.
Punjab flood: Army, air force on rescue ops
That dog will live another day even as Punjab drowns.
According to official data released on Saturday, more than 1,000 villages and over 61,000 hectares of farmland have been devastated.
The worst-hit districts include Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Fazilka, Kapurthala, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Hoshiarpur and Amritsar.
Relentless rain in the catchment areas of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir has swollen the Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers, alongside seasonal rivulets.
So far, 11,330 people have been rescued from inundated regions through coordinated efforts by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the Indian Army, the Border Security Force (BSF), the Indian Air Force and local district authorities.
Gurdaspur alone accounts for 323 flood-affected villages, with 4,771 people evacuated.
In Fazilka, 1,239 residents have been rescued, while 1,100 were moved from Pathankot and 1,052 from Hoshiarpur. Kapurthala, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Moga and Barnala are also reeling, with scores displaced and widespread crop losses reported.
District-wise data reveals staggering destruction: 16,632 hectares of farmland in Fazilka, 10,806 hectares in Ferozepur, 11,620 hectares in Kapurthala, 7,000 hectares in Pathankot, 9,928 hectares in Tarn Taran and 5,287 hectares in Hoshiarpur lie submerged. Livestock losses have further deepened the crisis.
The state has set up 87 relief camps, 77 of which are currently operational, sheltering 4,729 people. Ferozepur hosts the largest number, with 3,450 residents across eight camps.
Kapurthala houses 110 people, while Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Barnala, Fazilka, Moga and Amritsar also run camps for displaced families.
Seven NDRF teams have been deployed in Gurdaspur, with additional teams stationed in Fazilka, Ferozepur and Pathankot.
The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) has dispatched two teams to Kapurthala. Alongside rescue forces, Punjab Police, NGOs, and volunteers are working tirelessly to provide food, medical aid, relief material and shelter to those in need.
Canines included.