Hoshiarpur/Kapurthala/Fazilka, Aug 18 (PTI) The situation continued to remain grim in several villages in Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Fazilka, Ferozepur and Tarn Taran districts of Punjab because of swollen Beas and Sutlej rivers and rivulets in the wake of heavy rains in the catchment areas.
Agricultural fields in the affected areas remained submerged, with farmers fearing heavy losses due to crop damage. They are apprehensive of the same amount of damage that was caused during the floods in 2023.
Senior officials of the district administrations are visiting the affected areas to take stock of the situation and asserting that comprehensive arrangements for accommodation, food, clean drinking water, medical supplies and livestock fodder have been established for displaced residents.
Water release from the Pong Dam Talwara in the Hoshiarpur district continued following heavy rain in the river’s upper catchment areas.
Around 60,000 cusecs of water were being discharged from the dam through spillway gates and turbine tunnels while its current water level was 1,382 feet, close to its upper limit capacity of 1,390 feet.
The inflow into the dam reservoir stood at about 88,000 cusecs. Around 1.06 lakh cusecs of water was flowing in the Beas river, said official sources.
Authorities in the Hoshiarpur district have begun evacuating people from several villages in the Tanda region as a precautionary measure after continuous release of water from the Pong (Beas) Dam raised the risk of floods, said the officials.
Tanda Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Parampreet Singh said the administration has been informed that another 15,000 cusecs of water could be released from the dam.
“For the safety of lives and property, announcements are being made to evacuate villages Fatta Kulla, Rara Mand, Abdullahpur and Talhi, while residents of Mewa Miani and Gandhowal have been asked to remain on alert,” he said.
The administration has started shifting people to nearby relief camps. In some villages, residents left for safer places even before the official alert, the officials said.
Officials added that standing crops in the low-lying fields in Gandhowal, Rara Mand, Talhi, Abdullahpur, Mewa Miani and Fatta Kulla villages have been inundated.
Abdullahpur sarpanch Jaswant Singh said his village was surrounded by water from all sides and had been cut off from neighbouring areas.
“The only access is by boats. The administration has provided one boat. Some houses in the low-lying part of the village are already inundated,” he said.
He added that only about two to three families and around 10-15 other people stayed back in the village to guard their belongings, while most others moved to relatives’ houses or took shelter in a gurdwara at nearby Ibrahimpur village.
Nearly 100 displaced people, including women and children, are staying there.
The sarpanch said around 500 acres of farmland in Abdullahpur and neighbouring villages were under river water, most of it was paddy crop.
Abdullahpur farmer Gurmeet Singh, now sheltering with his family in the Ibrahimpur gurdwara, said they have been staying there for about a week.
“We are being provided food and water by gurdwaras of villages Pul Pukhta and Munak. Villagers have also moved their cattle to safety and fodder was arranged for them by the people of other villages,” he said.
He lauded the efforts of volunteers from Baba Deep Singh Sewa Dal and Welfare Society, who have been ferrying people in and out of the village on their motorboats.
Gurmeet Singh said his entire 10-acre contract land was submerged and nearly 200 acres of village farmland had been flooded.
In Kapurthala as well, there was no respite from the swollen Beas river. Because of the rise in the water level, there could be damage to an advanced embankment at village Ahlikalan in Sultanpur Lodhi.
Over 20 villages in the mand area of Sultanpur Lodhi have been affected by the rise in water level.
Jarnail Singh of village Baupur who sowed paddy crops over 10 acres of land said his entire crop was swept away by the heavy flow of water of the Beas river.
Another farmer Inderjit Singh of Baupur Bajid village was also worried as heavy inflow of water swept away his crops sown over 35 acres of land.
Kapurthala Deputy Commissioner (DC) Amit Kumar Panchal Monday conducted an on-site review of flood relief operations in the affected areas of Sultanpur Lodhi to ensure swift and effective aid delivery.
Panchal inspected the relief centre at Lakh Waryah, where comprehensive arrangements for accommodation, food, clean drinking water, medical supplies and livestock fodder have been established for displaced residents.
He noted that the Beas river is carrying a flow of 1.10 lakh cusecs of water over the past few days.
In Fazilka district, Deputy Commissioner Amarpreeet Kaur Sandhu along with Senior Superintendent of Police Gurmeet Singh visited the border villages along the Indo-Pak frontier to take stock of the situation.
The water discharge from Hussainiwala headworks into the Sutlej River has reduced by 18,000 cusecs, she said.
The DC inspected villages including Mahatam Nagar, Teja Ruhela, Chak Ruhela, Rete Wali Bhaini, Gulabe Wali Bhaini and Dhani Sada Singh.
She stated that all inhabited areas of these villages remain completely safe and no floodwater has entered the residential zones.
Sandhu travelled by a tractor to reach remote hamlets (dhanis) located in the fields and interacted with residents to assess their condition.
In Amritsar, Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sahni visited villages along the Ravi River in Ajnala and reviewed the flood-prone areas.
All arrangements are in place to meet any emergency, with their teams stationed there round the clock and there is no need to panic, she said. PTI COR CHS KSS KSS
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