Punjab continued to be on high alert on Friday, a day after the Indian Army conducted surgical strikes on terror camps in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
The security has been strengthened at vital installations. A high alert has also been sounded at all airbases in the region, including Chandigarh, Ambala, Bathinda, Adampur and Halwara near ludhiana.
At the same time, the evacuation of people residing in villages along the international border with Pakistan continued.
The Border Security Force (BSF) has put the international border on further alert following the surgical strikes, officials said.
The security at Bhakra dam has also been strengthened with BBMB chairman SK Sharma saying that security arrangements at all dams was being reviewed considering the threat perception due to the prevailing tension with Pakistan.
Besides, security was also beefed up in and around other vital installations, including oil refinery and important power plants in Punjab.
Meanwhile, evacuation of people residing in about 1,000 villages within 10-km of the international border continued following orders of the authorities.
Heads of local gurdwaras and temples, sarpanches and the police reached out to people using loudspeakers, asking them to evacuate at the earliest in the light of escalating tension between the two countries.
The district administration in border districts has arranged for tents for evacuated people, cleared beds in the Government hospitals and makeshift shelters have been set up in schools and marriage palaces.
Amritsar's Deputy Commissioner Varun Roojam said that all necessary arrangements had been put in place to cater to the needs of those being evacuated.
In villages falling in Gurdaspur and Ferozepur districts, administration has created several rehabilitation camps for residents of border villages. Schools in border areas have been shut till further orders and leaves of police and medical personnel cancelled, officials said.
The SGPC, apex religious body of the Sikhs, has announced every possible help to the evacuees.