Singapore Group Rebuilds Flood-Hit Village at India Border

When floods wiped out nearly everything in Kaluwara last year, the 300 residents of this remote Punjab village faced an impossible task: rebuilding homes accessible only by rickety wooden boats.

Kaluwara sits in one of India's most isolated spots. The Sutlej River surrounds it on three sides, and the India-Pakistan border fence blocks the fourth. Getting building materials to the village meant crossing water on behri, traditional wooden boats that locals have used for generations.

Enter Mercy Relief, a Singapore-based humanitarian organization that refused to let geography stop progress. The group is now transporting thousands of pounds of bricks, cement bags, and construction materials across the river using large boats. They're covering the entire cost of rebuilding 25 homes, including labor, logistics, and basic furnishing.

"My father's entire 3-acre land was consumed by flood waters and our home was reduced to debris," said Malkeet Singh, a villager watching his house rise again from the sand. The organization promised not just walls and roofs, but furniture too.

The August 2025 floods ranked among Punjab's worst in recent memory. They turned Kaluwara's fertile farmland into endless dunes of sand. Village leader Bohar Singh said residents have been forced to rebuild after every India-Pakistan conflict and natural disaster, but this time felt different. Many families left for good, unable to face starting over again.

The Ripple Effect

Mercy Relief's first phase delivered medicines and essential supplies to nearly 5,000 people across flood-hit Punjab. Their second phase focuses entirely on Kaluwara because local communities identified it as one of the hardest places to reach and most underserved.

The project costs more than 100,000 Singapore dollars. Leon Yip, the organization's chief executive, said local Punjabi communities guided them to villages that other aid groups couldn't easily access.

Work crews have already completed 10 to 12 homes. Kala Singh stood outside his newly rebuilt shelter and marveled at how help arrived from thousands of miles away. "We are really grateful to them that they came to help us all the way from Singapore," he said.

Ferozepur Deputy Commissioner Deepshikha Sharma praised the initiative for bridging gaps and bringing international support to forgotten communities. The organization had already assisted with medical relief during the floods, proving their commitment to seeing recovery through from emergency to rebuilding.

For families with nowhere else to go, these new homes mean everything: the difference between abandoning ancestral land and staying rooted where generations lived before them.