The Forgotten People of the Ravi River

Chhavi Sachdev meets the people in a remote part of western India, whose lives have been shaped by a border drawn up in a hurry at India’s independence.

The villages are surrounded by Pakistan on three sides – and cut off from the mainland by the River Ravi. There’s a makeshift pontoon bridge, but that must be dismantled for four months during the rainy season.

Shopkeeper Payal’s mother died in childbirth because the river was too high for her to cross, and farmer Sukhwinder, who has to get permission every single day to tend his crops because his land is in a ‘no-man’s’ land.

Produced by Chhavi Sachdev and Penny Dale

Broadcast: 15th June 2024