With the help of the National Disaster Response Force, Army and the BSF, the civil and police administration of the state has evacuated 9,015 persons to safety from the flood-hit villages.
Chandigarh: More than 44,000 people across 130 villages in Punjab, including 52 in Gurdaspur, have been affected by the release of excess water from the Pong and Bhakra dams for the second day today, a special report by Ruchika M Khanna in The Tribune, Chandigarh, says/
Two children are reported to have drowned at Jhanda Lubana village, Gurdaspur. Punjab has received 47.69 mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours,
The civil and police administration of the state, with the help of the National Disaster Response Force, Army and the BSF, have evacuated 9,015 persons from the flood-hit villages. They have been temporarily housed in 31 relief camps.
Out of this numner, 6,000 evacuees are from from Gurdaspur and 2,150 are from Hoshiarpur — the districts affected the most by flooding. A number of roads in Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Ropar and Kapurthala districts have also been damaged, affecting the movement of traffic.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday, August 17, visited the flood-affected areas of Hoshiarpur and promised all possible help to the affected people.
He said the government was in touch with the Himachal Pradesh Government and the Bhakra Beas Management Board to assess the situation.
While 80,200 cusecs of water was released from the Pong dam, leading to flooding in Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala districts, 74,400 cusecs was released from Bhakra dam, causing inundation in 22 villages of Ropar. Around 2.15 lakh cusecs of water is also being released from Harike headworks towards Pakistan.
Villages located along the course of the Beas, Sutlej and Ghaggar, that carry water from neighbouring Himachal Pradesh, is a source of deep concern for the villagers.
At Gidderpindi in Jalandhar, flow of water in the Sutlej rose to 1.28 lakh cusecs and 2.35 lakh cusecs at Harike. Similarly, the flow of Beas water was recorded at 2,41,500 cusecs at Passi (Hoshiarpur) and 2,34,000 cusecs at Dhilwan (Kapurthala).
Mukerian villagers show compassion, empathy for flood-hit
Meanwhile a report from Deepkamal Kaur says Hoshiar Singh Rana of Sallowal village has thrown open the doors of his palatial house to residents of about a dozen villagers of Mukerian, submerged in 10-15 feet of water for the last two days
He has arranged several mattresses and pedestal fans so that anyone from the affected villages in the neighbourhood, including Haler Janardhan, Simbli, Mehtabpur and Sanyal villages, can come and take shelter.
He has also been arranging meals and drinking water for all of them since the past two days.
Rana said: “It is not just me but several other families of my village have taken turns to prepare meals for the flood-hit villagers. They are bringing cooked food to our place and serving it to those who have taken shelter with us” .
He thanked the Almighty for the privilege given him to serve his community.
Shamsher Singh, a farmer from the adjoining Harse Mansar village, has deliveredfood packets and rations in Simbli and Mehtabpur villages on a tractor.
“Road connectivity to both the villages was cut off since August 15 due to floods. Only yesterday (Thursday, August 17) when the water level receded by two feet that we could finally reach out to them via Sallowal road and know about their well-being,” he said.
Hoshiarpur ADC Rahul Chaba said, “Though the state government has adequate supplies of ration, water bottles and fodder for the affected villagers, several NGOs, social organisations and businessmen of Hoshiarpur are extending all-possible help to the affected families.”
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