Following recent flooding, Deputy Commissioner Preet Yadav announced that crops on approximately 1,450 acres across 16 villages have been affected after floodwaters from the Ghaggar river entered the fields. One life has been lost due to the rising waters, though no breaches have been reported in the riverbanks.
Villagers, including Sita Ram from Jul Heri, confirmed that while the banks have held, water is flowing over them and inundating nearby agricultural land. A similar situation was observed in the villages of Kami Khurd, Chamaru, Sarala, and Untsar. The Ghaggar river has reached its danger mark near Sarala Kalan village.
The Tangri river, which flows through parts of Haryana and Patiala, is currently 1.7 feet above its danger mark of 13.7 feet. The Markanda river is also flowing high at 21.2 feet, just below its danger mark of 22 feet. In response to the crisis, the Public Works, Water Resources, and Power Departments have been directed to begin repair work on damaged infrastructure immediately.
Telecom operators have been instructed to ensure consistent mobile and landline connectivity, and other officials have been tasked with guaranteeing the smooth movement of people and essential services.
Central teams have yet to assess the full extent of the damage in Punjab, where the floods have claimed 37 lives and affected nearly 3.55 lakh people to date. Around 19,600 people have been evacuated from the flood-hit areas, which include 1,400 villages. An estimated 4 lakh acres of standing crops have been submerged.
Both Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann toured the affected areas on Tuesday to oversee ongoing relief and rescue operations. Civil administration and rescue teams from the Army, Air Force, NDRF, and BSF are preparing for another spell of heavy rainfall forecast for Wednesday and Thursday. As of now, 171 relief camps have been established, providing shelter to 5,167 people.
The swelling of the Ravi and Beas rivers is attributed to recent heavy rains in their upstream catchment areas in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. The water flow in the Ravi at the Ujh barrage increased significantly from 7,474 cusecs in the morning to 52,341 cusecs by evening.
Also Read: Army rescues over 5,000 civilians in Jammu, Punjab, HP
Further downstream at Dharamkot, the water flow in the Ravi is still too high to be accurately gauged. Similarly, the water flow in the Beas at the Chakki bank rose from 1,910 cusecs to 8,400 cusecs in the evening. At Dhilwan, in Sultanpur Lodhi, the water flow was recorded at 2.04 lakh cusecs, having receded slightly since the morning.
The Sutlej river's water flow at Ropar decreased from 1.02 lakh cusecs in the morning to 71,486 cusecs in the evening. The water flow at Harike, where the Beas and Sutlej converge, was recorded at 2.93 lakh cusecs.
The water level in the Pong Dam on the Beas river reached 1,391 feet, which is above its danger mark of 1,390 feet. The Bhakra Dam reservoir is also nearing its danger mark of 1,680 feet, with the water level recorded at 1,677.32 feet. Inflows into both these dams, as well as the Ranjit Sagar Dam on the Ravi, have been high. The Ranjit Sagar Dam recorded the highest inflow of 1.71 lakh cusecs.
Also Read: Punjab floods kill 29, displace thousands as rivers overflow
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