The fresh round of rains on Wednesday morning in some parts of Punjab has, it seems, worsened the situation in the already flood-affected areas. The heavy downpour in Patiala and adjoining areas, for about a few hours, led to a flood-like situation in many areas as sewerage lines and drains were choked resulting in flooding of many houses.
It seems that the authorities concerned have learned no lessons from the previous week’s heavy rains that submerged several areas in the district, even resulting in the loss of property worth lakhs besides several lives. The few hours of heavy rain have led to choked sewerage with people in many colonies complaining of water entering their houses. Notably, Patiala was the worst-affected district by the past week's heavy rains.
Meanwhile, Gurdaspur District Administration on Wednesday issued an advisory, asking the people living near the Ravi River to remain vigilant after 2.6 lakh cusecs of water was released into the Ujh river — that merges into the Ravi at Makora Patan in Gurdaspur district after crossing Pathankot.
Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Aggarwal said that 2.6 lakh cusecs of water was released into the Ujh river due to heavy rain in hilly areas. The administration has also evacuated people living near low-lying areas and on the banks of the Ravi, he said, adding that a holiday was also declared in some schools.
Aggarwal said that the District Administration is fully prepared to deal with any situation. Any information about flood-like situation can be given on the toll-free number 1800-180-1852 of the control room of the district administration, he said.
Several districts of Punjab and Haryana were battered by the recent heavy downpour that has left normal life paralysed and flooded vast tracts of residential and agricultural land.
Though the floodwaters receded in many areas of Punjab and Haryana, authorities were still engaged in relief work and plugging breaches in ‘dhussi bundhs' (earthen embankments) that have come up along the Ghaggar river.
Punjab’s 1438 villages in 19 districts still affected by flood
Punjab Government, as a part of its commitment to provide succour to the beleaguered people, has plunged its machinery headlong to mitigate the situation created by floods in the State. To speed up the relief operations in the state, 26,482 persons have been evacuated and taken to safe places. Spokesperson informed that 1438 villages have been affected by the flood till 8 am on July 19. A total of 155 relief camps are running in the state in which 4234 people are staying. Currently, 19 districts are affected by floods including Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Fatehgarh Sahib, Faridkot, Hoshiarpur, Rupnagar, Kapurthala, Patiala, Moga, Ludhiana, SAS Nagar, Jalandhar, Sangrur, SBS Nagar, Fazilka, Gurdaspur, Mansa, Bathinda and Pathankot. According to the report received by the Revenue Department from different districts, a total of 38 people have lost their lives due to floods in the state and 15 injured while two are still missing.