Flood situation grim at some places as rainfall continues in Punjab, Haryana

Chandigarh, Jul 10 (PTI) Rains battered many parts of Punjab and Haryana for the third consecutive day on Monday causing flooding at many places, as authorities scrambled to lead rescue operations to shift people to safer places.

The Punjab government ordered the closure of schools in the state till July 13 in view of the prevailing situation.

According to the meteorological department, it has been raining in many parts of Punjab and Haryana since morning.

Chandigarh also witnessed a record rainfall during the past three days, and a few roads were filled with rainwater.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann appealed to people not to panic as heavy rains caused flooding at some places in the state.

In a tweet in Punjabi, Mann, who is visiting flood-affected areas in Mohali and Rupnagar districts, said the government is with the people and all possible help will be provided to them.

Mann later told reporters that all his ministers and MLAs as well as officials are on the ground and with people in this hour of crisis.

Due to continuous rains in the state and keeping in view the safety of students, the government ordered shutting of all schools till July 13 with immediate effect, Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains tweeted.

Earlier, schools were ordered to be closed in some of the worst-hit districts in Punjab and Haryana.

Mohali, Patiala, Rupnagar, Fatehgarh Sahib, Panchkula and Ambala are some of the worst-hit districts in the two states.

In view of the prevailing situation caused due to incessant rains, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar cancelled all his pre-scheduled programmes for the day and summoned an emergency meeting of senior officials of various departments.

He took stock of the situation with senior officials in the meeting in which Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal was also present.

Khattar later also held a meeting with deputy commissioners through video-conferencing, officials said.

Khattar also spoke with his Himachal Pradesh counterpart Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu after reports that some Haryana residents were stranded in Manali. He was informed that all were safe.

At some places in the two states, the authorities launched rescue operations evacuating people and shifting them to safer places in view of the floodwaters entering the residential areas.

The Haryana government also issued an advisory for general public asking them to take precautions and only venture out when it is necessary.

Army’s assistance was sought by the Patiala district administration in Punjab after water overflowed from the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal in Rajpura town following a breach.

The Army has been put on alert in some other parts of Punjab, officials said. In Rajpura, water entered a private hospital and the patients were shifted to two other hospitals, they said.

In some places in Punjab, there were breaches in distributaries and minor canals.

Fields were inundated at many places in Punjab and parts of Haryana causing crop damage.

Tracts of land near Sutlej and Ghaggar rivers were inundated. At some places in Punjab and Haryana, water gushed into houses, and at a few places, people were evacuated to safer places.

The heavy monsoon downpour continued to lead to traffic snarls on key road stretches in the two states, the officials said.

In Patiala, the floodwaters entered the premises of the Rajpura Thermal Power Plant on Monday, leading to the shutdown of one of its 700 MW units, officials said. The Punjab government requested additional assistance from the Army to combat the escalating crisis.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams were also deployed at some places in the two states.

Patiala Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney said the floodwaters had breached the premises of a private hospital in Rajpura on Sunday, necessitating the rescue and relocation of patients to other hospitals.

Additionally, approximately 800 students from a private university in the district were successfully rescued with the assistance of the Army.

In Haryana’s Ambala, the administration has sounded a high alert following overflow of rivers and canals in the district, with authorities seeking the Army and the NDRF assistance.

In Ambala, all the rivers, including Markanda, Tangri and Ghaggar, crossed the danger mark.

Ambala deputy commissioner’s office was also waterlogged and the official was working from camp office in his residence. A few other offices were also waterlogged.

Several areas in Ambala district are waterlogged and there have been breaches in Narwana and SYL canal following heavy rainfall in the region.

A bus overturned due to water flow on Ambala-Yamuna Nagar road near Hamidpur turn in Ambala district, but all 27 passengers were safely evacuated by the police.

A few areas of Ambala City including Manmohan Nagar close to Ghaggar river were submerged in flood water.

Narwana canal, which is a branch of the Bhakra canal, has touched the danger mark, officials said. The Narwana canal has breached in a few villages, including Bishangarh and Insmailpur, which caused flood in several villages.

Tangri river that crosses along Haryana and Punjab border has been flowing above the danger mark. The flood water has entered hundreds of houses constructed in the embankment area.

Haryana’s Home Minister Anil Vij visited the Tangri river area along with the officers of the irrigation department.

In Ludhiana, with the concerted efforts of the district administration, the army and the police, two breaches were successfully plugged in Doraha Monday morning.

A team of Ludhiana district administration led by Payal area’s Sub Divisional Magistrate Jasleen Kaur Bhullar oversaw the plugging operations in Doraha. Due to breaches in Siswan, excess water had flown into Doraha canal which led to breach in Doraha and Rajgarh villages.

“We are making every effort to provide relief to the flood-affected residents of the villages,” a spokesperson of the Ludhiana district administration said.

Flood control rooms have been set up in Punjab and Haryana to help the people.

Owing to the heavy rains, the water level of the Yamuna river at Hathini Kund Barrage is constantly increasing, due to which people of low-lying areas adjacent to the river have been asked to stay away from the riverbank, the officials said.

On Monday at around 8 am, 2.79 lakh cusecs of water was discharged from the barrage, they said.

In Punjab’s Rupnagar, Siswan Nadi breached near Kamalpur, the officials said.

Rains lashed Chandigarh, Panchkula, Yamunanagar, Ambala, Karnal, Kurukshetra, among other places in Haryana while Fatehgarh Sahib, Mohali, Rupnagar and Patiala in Punjab also received showers.

Due to incessant rains in the catchment areas of the Sukhna Lake here, two of the floodgates were opened on Monday.