Even as the monsoon is in full swing, the Punjab government has, in a surprising move, directed Deputy Commissioners in 10 districts to urgently undertake desilting at 37 additional sites along the Sutlej, Ravi, Siswan, Badi Nadi and Ghaggar rivers. The move has been justified under the Disaster Management Act.The order, issued on July 16 by Krishan Mohan, Principal Secretary, Department of Water Resources, comes weeks after the ideal pre-monsoon window for desilting closed.The directive, accessed by The Indian Express, adds to an earlier list of 99 sites transferred to district administrations under the Disaster Management Act. The fresh list covers 37 sites across 10 districts, with the highest number in Ropar (11), followed by Gurdaspur and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (five each).The July 16 letter cites the need to restore the carrying capacity of rivers during the ongoing monsoon. It refers to an earlier communication issued by the Chief Engineer (Drainage) on June 16, under which 99 desilting sites had been handed over to the respective Deputy Commissioners for execution under the Disaster Management Act.“In view of the ongoing monsoon season and in light of the orders of the National Green Tribunal in OA No. 316/2026 dated 08.06.2026, another list of 37 sites is hereby shared, which includes the sites under the volume share model of tenders, price bid tenders and sites allotted to landowners for desilting but which were at a halt due to local protest or any other reason. The Deputy Commissioners are requested to take stock of the requirement of work for ensuring safe passage of flood water at critical river sites in their respective jurisdiction and execute the work either through landowners or as per the SOP already issued vide letter dated 15.06.2026,” the letter states.According to the order, the additional 37 sites are located in Ropar (11), Gurdaspur (5), Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (5), SAS Nagar (4), Amritsar (3), Ludhiana (2), Patiala (2), Ferozepur (2), Tarn Taran (2) and Fazilka (1).Earlier, Chief Engineer (Drainage-cum-Mining), Water Resources Department, Hardeep Singh Mendiratta, had written to Deputy Commissioners on June 16 directing that 99 sites be desilted under the Disaster Management Act, either through landowners or as per the department’s SOP issued on June 15.Story continues below this adThe June 16 letter said the directions were based on decisions taken at the Council of Ministers meeting on June 10 and communicated by the Department of General Administration the same day.“Deputy Commissioners shall take stock of the requirement of work for ensuring safe passage of flood water at critical river sites in the district and finalise the critical sites. Approvals for such critical sites shall be given within one day of the issue of this letter and works shall be completed before June 30, 2026,” the communication stated.However, river experts and environmentalists have long maintained that large-scale mechanical desilting is most effective and least disruptive before the monsoon, when riverbeds are exposed and water levels are low. Carrying out such work during July and August, when rivers are in spate, is logistically more difficult, costlier and poses greater safety risks to workers and machinery.The National Green Tribunal (NGT), in its June 8 order in the Kuljinder Singh case, restrained commercial-style “volume share” desilting at dozens of sites unless environmental clearances, district survey reports and replenishment studies were in place. It, however, permitted genuine flood-control and disaster-mitigation works.Story continues below this adThe latest directions to undertake desilting under the Disaster Management Act appear to be the government’s response to the NGT order by transferring sites to Deputy Commissioners for execution as emergency flood-management works, instead of through the earlier commercial tendering process.Attempts to contact Chief Engineer (Drainage-cum-Mining) Hardeep Singh Mendiratta for comment were unsuccessful. He did not respond to phone calls or text messages.The July 16 order also comes more than two weeks after the June 30 deadline set for completion of desilting. With monsoon activity already underway and peak rainfall expected during July and August, several of the identified sites, particularly those involving longitudinal desilting along the Sutlej and Ravi, are likely to be more difficult to execute because of rising river levels.The petition before the NGT had challenged tender and auction notices issued by the Punjab government during April and May 2026 for extraction of sand and other alluvial material through desilting of rivers, including the Sutlej, Ravi and Beas.Story continues below this adThe petitioner alleged that under the guise of a “no cost to government” model based on sharing extracted sand, the state was effectively carrying out commercial sand mining while bypassing the environmental clearance process mandated under the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006.In its June 8 order, the NGT restrained further dredging or desilting operations for commercial purposes. At the same time, it clarified that the Punjab government was free to undertake desilting for maintenance, upkeep and disaster management, either through its own agencies or otherwise, provided such work did not amount to commercial sand mining.