Bijnor: Residents of Bijnor’s Ramsahaywala and Himmatpur Bela have demanded that their villages be merged with Uttarakhand so that they can get immediate assistance at the time of floods. These villages are in a remote part of the district and are logistically closer to Uttarakhand.

The villagers put forth this demand when Moradabad division commissioner Anil Rajkumar visited flood-affected villages in the region on Tuesday. These villages are on the banks of river Ganga, which is in spate due to heavy rainfall in the hill and plain areas.

Commissioner Rajkumar attended a tehsil divas when he visited Bijnor district. He lent a ear to people’s complaints and planted saplings in the new tehsil office premises. Later, he visited worst flood-affected villages — Ramsahaywala and Himmatpur Bela.

The swollen Ganga has completely marooned these villages, posing a threat to both residents and their livestock.

Rajendra Singh, a resident of one of these villages, told commissioner Rajkumar that year after year, Ramsahaywala and Himmatpur Bela, which fall under the same village panchayat, are flooded. This time, the river has inundated the villages for the past two months and has washed away around 4,000 bighas of agriculture land with standing crops. These villages are not even electrified.

“Both villages are on the UP-Uttarakhand border. While Bijnor is 40km away, Uttarakhand’s Lakshar tehsil is only 12 km. At the time of floods, Bijnor administration takes time to reach us while Uttrakhand administration is able to help us. Three years ago, Uttarakhand had constructed an embankment to save their villages along the Ganga. Our hardships can be resolved only after we are included in the hill state,” Singh told the commissioner.

Rajkumar assured the villagers that their problems would be resolved. He asked them to prepare a proposal with the help of the authority concerned and hand it over it to DM Atal Rai so that he could take up the matter with higher authorities.

