Pandoh, Mandi : Three years after a flash flood swept through Pandoh’s market and forced more than 2,000 people to flee, residents are still waiting for the permanent safety wall promised along the Beas River.
In July 2023, heavy rain and a sudden release of water from the Pandoh Dam flooded the lower market. The water destroyed shops, damaged homes and forced residents to move to higher ground during the night.
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What was promised
After the flood, ministers and senior administrative officials visited Pandoh and assured residents that authorities would build a permanent protection wall along the Beas River once the situation stabilised.
The proposed wall was supposed to protect the lower market from rising water and sudden releases from the dam. Three years later, the wall is still not on the ground.
In May 2025, the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) floated a tender for a retaining wall downstream of the dam at an estimated cost of around ₹11 crore. BBMB awarded the work for ₹6.95 crore, nearly 37 per cent below the estimated cost. Local panchayat leaders questioned the proposal’s quality and feasibility, after which BBMB officials said a committee would review the bid. More than a year later, construction has not begun.
What Pandoh has received instead
Authorities have installed an early-warning system along the Beas between the dam and Mandi town. Sensor-based sirens with voice messages alert residents when the dam releases water, giving them roughly 30 minutes to respond.
The system can warn people about approaching water, but it cannot stop floodwater from reaching the market.
In August 2026, BBMB proposed another flood-management measure: twin tunnels of about 1,200 metres that could carry around 2,000 cumecs of floodwater and bypass the town. The proposal remains at the planning stage and does not replace the protection wall residents have been waiting for.
3 years on, the question remains
The authorities promised permanent protection after the 2023 flood. Three years later, Pandoh has an early-warning system and a proposed tunnel project, but the promised safety wall remains incomplete.
For residents, the issue is straightforward: the flood exposed the risk, the authorities promised protection, and the protection has still not arrived.
