'Lost everything, managed to save ourselves': Floods shatter wedding plans of Pathankot family

NDRF personnel during a search and rescue operation at a flood-affected area, in Punjab. (Image: @NDRFHQ/X via PTI)

As the night fell on August 27, Raj Verma and his family gathered in their home in Berian village in Punjab's Pathankot to discuss arrangements for a feast ahead of his wedding on September 2.

Soon they heard people screaming outside. Raging waters of the Ravi river were surging towards their village. The Vermas ran for their lives, leaving everything behind.

Days later, they returned to find their home submerged in water. The floodwaters and mud swept away everything, including all the jewellery, clothes and gifts the family bought for the wedding.

Raj and his family members frantically dug through the mud with their bare hands hoping to salvage some of the family's belongings, but in vain.

"We have lost everything because of the floods. We could only manage to save our lives," said Raj, who works in Chandigarh and had come home for his wedding.

Recalling the fateful night, he said, "At around 8:30 pm on August 27, we were planning a feast for the villagers ahead of my wedding when people outside suddenly started screaming.

"We initially thought there was a fight, but found that floodwaters were headed towards our village," Raj told PTI.

There was not enough time to even lock the house, said Raj, who fled with his parents, two sisters and a younger brother.

The water current was so strong that doors broke and the almirah and locker in which wedding clothes and gold jewellery were kept were swept away, he said.

"There was around 4-5 feet of water, including 3 feet of mud, in the house," Raj said.

"We had planned a lunch for relatives today and a 'paath' in the house. But there is nothing left now. It is difficult to describe what we are going through. We suffered a loss of an estimated Rs 7-8 lakh," he said.

The 'shagun' ceremony was to take place on September 1 and the marriage was to be solemnised the next day.

Raj's father Madan Lal and his sisters could not hold back their tears.

"We are in shock and are yet to process what has happened," Raj said.

Many villages in the border district of Pathankot were flooded after the water level of the Ravi river rose following heavy rain in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.

Several other districts in Punjab were ravaged by floods and multiple agencies are working together to provide relief to those affected.

With inputs from PTI