This is the second time in a month that villages have been flooded in Punjab. Due to this the crops in the fields have been badly affected.
पंजाब-हिमाचल के सैकड़ों गांव जलमग्न, रेस्क्यू जारी, फसलें तबाह
Hundreds of villages on the banks of swollen Sutlej and Beas rivers were inundated after the gates of the vital Bhakra and Pong dams were opened in Punjab on Wednesday. Due to the torrential rains, the water flow in both the reservoirs has increased alarmingly. Its catchment area, mainly Himachal Pradesh, has received heavy rains in the last three days.
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams are engaged in rescuing people trapped in the flood. Officials said that due to deficient rainfall, the flow of water in both the dams has come down significantly as compared to Tuesday.
The flood gates of both the dams, which cater to the irrigation needs of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, have been opened to reduce the water level.
The opening of the flood gates caused flood-like situation mainly in Ropar, Anandpur Sahib and Hoshiarpur districts of Punjab and Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh.
This is the second time in a month that villages have been flooded in Punjab. Due to this the crops in the fields have been badly affected.
Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains said some villages in his Anandpur Sahib constituency have been severely affected due to the water released from the Bhakra Dam.
He said, “Please don’t panic and don’t pay heed to rumours. We are evacuating people from the danger zone. The district administration and NDRF are offering full assistance.”
An official of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) told IANS on Wednesday, “The flow in all the three rivers – Beas, Satluj and Ravi – was very high for the last three days. Today it has come down drastically. We have reduced the amount of water being released from both Bhakra and Pong dams as the low-lying areas of Punjab and Himachal were already facing flood problems.
While the Bhakra Dam is built on the Sutlej River, the Pong Dam is built on the Beas River and the Ranjit Sagar Dam on the Ravi.
At present, the water level in Bhakra dam’s Gobind Sagar reservoir and Pong dam reservoir is above 1,677 feet and 1,390 feet, respectively, said an official of the BBMB, which manages the two dams on the Punjab-Himachal border.
Himachal Chief Minister Sukhwinder Sukhu said that over 800 people were evacuated till Wednesday from the low-lying areas of Kangra near the Pong dam. Their villages were cut off due to rising water level in the dam reservoir.
“The evacuation operation is still going on. More people are being evacuated,” he added.
About 1.5 lakh cusecs of water was released from the Pong dam on Tuesday, causing severe flooding in Indora and Fatehpur areas of Kangra.
Official data said the water level at Bhakra dam is still three feet below the maximum limit, while it has crossed the limit of 1,390 feet at Pong dam reservoir.
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