Celebrities, Sikh Groups, Volunteers Roll up Sleeves to Rebuild Flood-Ravaged Punjab
Jalandhar: Amidst floods ravaging their state, Punjabi celebrities, Sikh groups and youths have set an example by not only providing relief material but also serving flood victims on the ground instead of waiting for government support or relief packages.
From global icon and Punjabi singer Diljit Dosanjh to fellow musicians Satinder Sartaj, Jasbir Jassi, Gippy Grewal, Karan Aujla and Ranjit Bawa – and actors Gurpreet Ghuggi, Nimrat Khaira, Sonam Bajwa, Ammy Virk, Randeep Hooda, Kapil Sharma and Sonu Sood – the list of those supporting and rescuing flood victims has grown longer by the day.
Apart from the above, Bollywood actors Vicky Kaushal, Shah Rukh Khan, Sunil Shetty, Sunny Deol and Kareena Kapoor Khan, as well as cricketers Yuvraj Singh, Shubman Gill and Harbhajan Singh, also declared support for victims of the floods in Punjab, which have killed over 40 people and inundated at least four lakh acres of cropland.
Dosanjh's Saanjh Foundation has announced that it would adopt ten flood-affected villages in Punjab's border districts.
His team, led by Dosanjh's manager Sonali Singh, has been on the ground providing relief material and rehabilitating flood victims. Sonali Singh told The Wire: “Right now, we are making an assessment about building a system and raising resources so that they can be channelised and managed in a more structured way.”
She also lauded Punjabi youths for their indomitable spirit in the face of adversity and said that their foundation needs skilled young people to volunteer for their relief and rehabilitation project.
An aerial view of an area partially submerged in Patiala district on September 4, 2025. Photo: PTI.
Earlier, on Friday (September 5), Dosanjh's social media team shared a post titled ‘Punjab Flood Relief - Volunteer Call’ and raised a demand for medical professionals, architects and civil engineers, trainers and educators, as well as technical professionals for building relief technology, support and a coordination system. They also asked for data scientists and data analysts to manage and track the distribution of relief material among other requirements.
Bollywood actor Hooda was on the ground with Global Sikhs, an NGO with which he shares a long association. He had also worked with the organisation during the Kerala floods in 2018.
Along with Global Sikhs founder Amarpreet Singh, Hooda could be seen wading through knee-deep water in villages and fields and distributing relief material. The actor's videos have gone viral on social media, evoking heartfelt responses from viewers.
Similarly, Punjabi poet-singer-actor Sartaj's eponymous Sartaj Foundation also reached out to flood-affected districts. Apart from providing rations to affected families, the singer’s team also rescued trapped livestock, providing feed for cattle and their young ones.
Virk, another Punjabi actor, announced a commitment to constructing 200 houses in flood-affected areas, while Grewal and Ghuggi provided dry wheat stubble fodder and raw maize pickle (silage) for livestock.
In an Instagram video on Friday, Ghuggi said that Punjabis were begrudging the national media for not covering the floods in their state.
He said: “All I want to say is that why do we think that they [the national media] should cover us? If they think that we are nobody for them or if the national media does not want to help us, then let it be.”
Ghuggi added that there is an adage in Punjabi which goes something like, ‘If the rooster will not crow, will the day not break?’
“If they will not raise their voice for us, will we be ruined? We do not depend on anybody. Do not worry about the media”, he added.
Meanwhile, hit singer Aujla was one of the first celebrities to provide a motorboat, which he arranged from Kolkata for Rs 3.5 crore and gave to Ludhiana-based NGO Initiators of Change. Noted playback singer Jaspinder Narula also played a instrumental role in providing six boats that served as a lifeline in flood-affected areas.
Stranded locals wait for their evacuation at a flood-affected village, in Kapurthala district, Punjab, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025. Photo: PTI.
Similarly, Bollywood actor Sood's Sood Charity Foundation also led flood relief work. Sood said: “Punjab is my soul, we must ensure every family gets its cattle back. It's not just compensation, it's about dignity and survival.”
The actor’s foundation is led by him and his sister Malvika Sood from his hometown district of Moga.
Malvika Sood told The Wire that the extent of damage to people's lives, homes, fields and livestock was so high that their teams were still surveying villages in the flood-affected districts of Ferozepur, Moga and Fazilka on Friday.
“We are coordinating with the sarpanches of the villages and distributing relief material as per demand. We are providing dry ration, powder milk and ready-to-eat food kits, as there was no mode of cooking left in the flood-affected houses; cattle feed, medicines for water-borne diseases and tarpaulins” to cover leaking roofs, she said.
The foundation also led relief work in flood-affected Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir in association with local NGOs there.
US-based advocacy group United Sikhs – which has been rescuing people and providing relief material since August 13, when floodwaters first entered Ferozepur district in Punjab's west – provided over a dozen boats to evacuate people.
Amritpal Singh representing United Sikhs said that they bought two more boats from Mumbai, which were scheduled to reach Amritsar by flight.
“We have also pumped in declogging machines in flood-affected Dera Baba Nanak. Once the floodwater recedes, we will provide mosquito repellents and mosquito nets to stop the outbreak of any epidemic,” he said.
Cattle feed brand prevalent in rural Punjab works to save livestock
Tara Feed, based in Malerkotla district's Jitwal Kalan village, played a significant role in saving livestock from the flood.
Tara Feed, which has regularly sent trucks of cattle feed to flood-affected areas for free, had as of Friday sent around 15 such vehicles carrying 200 bags each.
Jatinder Singh Mandher, a Tara Feed official, told The Wire that the firm's teams were present in all districts of Punjab and were coordinating with district administrations over the cattle feed requirements of livestock.
Mandher also said they were planning to hold special camps in flood-affected villages to educate farmers about saving their livestock.
Locals with their livestock at a flood-affected area in Kapurthala district on August 29, 2025. Photo: PTI.
Kapurthala-based trader manufacturing boats
In the wake of the crisis, Kapurthala-based Hanspal Traders began fabricating boats to expedite flood relief work. The company manufactures parts of railway coaches and supplies them to the Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala.
Brothers Pritpal Singh Hanspal and Devinder Pal Singh Hanspal had constructed 12 boats as of Friday. They had also made 15 boats during the 2023 floods at the urging of independent Kapurthala MLA Rana Inder Partap Singh.
“We have made our boat design and technique public so that others could also join in to manufacture boats and provide aid to flood relief victims. Our boats can carry ten people, while another specially designed boat, ‘Berra’, with a 20-tonne capacity can help farmers in carrying their cattle or agricultural appliances,” Pritpal Hanspal told the media.
Muslim groups, farmers extend support
Not just celebrities, but many Muslim groups, including the Malerkotla-based Sikh Muslim Sanjhaan, other independent Muslim groups as well as collectives from Haryana also provided relief material to flood victims.
The Sikh Muslim Saanjhan led by Naseer Akhtar, and the Ambala, Haryana-based Madrasa Zeenat Ul Uloom also sent trucks of relief material to flood-affected areas. Volunteers from the Muslims Welfare Society and the Dera Bassi from Mohali provided relief material as well.
Among others, Muslims from Yamunanagar and Jind districts in Haryana also contributed to flood relief works.
Farmers from the state as well as neighbouring Rajasthan too reached out with flood assistance in affected bordering districts.
Hoshiarpur-based group was among first responders with its boat service
Manjot Singh Talwandi from the Baba Deep Singh Sewa Dal in Hoshiarpur district's Gardhiwala was among the first responders to run a boat service in flood-affected areas. Talwandi and his team rushed in eight boats that their group had purchased after the 2019 floods.
“Initially, when the floods started, we started providing service in Sultanpur Lodhi and Kapurthala as well as in some areas of Hoshiarpur district. Later, when floods ravaged the border districts of Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran, we rushed there. Our teams have been working 24×7 to save lives and assist flood victims with relief material,” he added.
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