Continuous rain in many parts of Punjab as well as in Himachal Pradesh has brought the Raavi, Beas and Satluj rivers in spate, causing flooding in many villages of Fazilka, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and parts of Ferozepur in Punjab.
Fazilka and Gurdaspur district administrations have sounded an alert and have advised residents of over 20 villages to move to safer places.
The Fazilka district administration used the public address system to issue the advisory asking women, children and the elderly to move to five relief camps set up near the border villages. The National Disaster Response Force, Border Security Force and the Army have been reportedly put on alert.
In Kapurthala’s Sultanpur Lodhi, over 20 villages are affected by the overflowing Beas river. The floodwaters of the Beas have caused damage in many villages of Mukerian subdivision in Hoshiarpur.
Keeping in view the prevailing situation, many schools in districts, including Fazilka, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Pathankot and Gurdaspur, will remain closed for today. The weather department has issued an Orange alert for today with rain in most parts of the state.
Heavy rainfall in their catchment areas continues to swell the Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers, pushing them to dangerous levels and plunging Punjab deeper into the prevailing flood crisis.
The release of surplus water from the Pong, Bhakra and Ranjit Sagar dams has compounded matters, inundating large swathes of farmland and villages in districts located along the three rivers.
District administrations in Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Pathankot, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Fazilka and Ferozepur have ordered schools shut for one to three days, and issued evacuation advisories to flood-hit villages as waters continue to rise.
Sensing the scale of the disaster, the state government has set up a central flood control centre in Jalandhar to monitor and coordinate relief, while also roping in the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) to aid the district administrations and police in rescue operations.
Relief camps for evacuees have been established in several districts, with teams from health, animal husbandry, water supply and sanitation, and revenue departments actively working in impacted villages.
The Majha region, comprising Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts, and flanked by all three rivers, is bearing the brunt of the flood havoc.
Due to continuous rainfall in the hilly and plain areas over the past few days, the Ravi river, Ujh river, Jalaliya, Chakki, various canals and drains flowing through Pathankot district have been running beyond capacity.
The public had already been alerted in advance. This morning, water was released from the Ranjit Sagar Dam at Shahpurkandi, causing a rise in the water level of the Ravi.
Near Rajpura village, close to Shahpurkandi, a family belonging to the Gujjar community was trapped in the rising waters. Pathankot administration, in coordination with the NDRF, rescued Sani Muhammad, 68, Reshma, 52, Bina, 28, and Master Sultan Ali, 2, safely from the water. They were provided medical assistance and are now in stable condition.