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Breach in earthen dam floods 4 Mohali villages
Around seven houses were washed away while at least two dozen buffaloes died in these four villages. No loss to human life was reported.
Breach in an earthen dam on the Naggal seasonal rivulet following heavy rain on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday cut off two villages — Chhoti Naggal and Badi Naggal — while flooding two others — Parol and Mirzapur — near Mullanpur in the Majri block of Mohali district.
Around seven houses were washed away while at least two dozen buffaloes died in these four villages. No loss to human life was reported.
Water from higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh, passing through Baddi and Barotiwala feeds the Naggal rivulet. The 20-foot-high earthen dam constructed on the rivulet in 2011 has a catchment area of 11 kilometre.
Chhoti Naggal and Badi Naggal were cut off from the remaining district after a part of the main road was washed away in floods. In Parol, water entered many houses and inundated the streets. The flooding began around 6am, following which an alert was sounded.
Bhag Chand, a local, said: “When water started entering the villages, most of the people were asleep. We made a public announcement from the local gurdwara, asking people to vacate their houses.”
Achhar Singh, whose house was damaged in the rains, said: “My seven buffaloes were washed away in the flood. A major portion of my house collapsed. My tractor-trailer got stuck in the mud. Villagers have suffered losses worth lakhs.”
Another resident, Surinder Singh, said: “My family had a miraculous escape. Water started entering our house while we were asleep. After the announcement was made through loudspeakers, we woke up and rushed out to find the cattle pound washed away. I lost my six buffaloes. My house was also damaged subsequently.”
DC TAKES STOCK, SEE
KS REPORT
Mohali deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan also visited the flood-affected villages to take stock of the situation. Administrative and police officials besides veterinary doctors and officials from the soil and water conservation department accompanied him.
“We are assessing the losses and all remedial measures have been taken,” said Dayalan. “The work to construct the broken road and re-establish connectivity to the villages will start by Monday. A report has been sought from the soil and water conservation department on what led to the breach in the earthen dam.”
GHAGGAR LEVEL RISING TOO
The deputy commissioner said 15,236 cusec water has been released into the Ghaggar on Sunday due to the heavy rain. He said people residing on the banks of Ghaggar should take precautions, as the increase in its water level poses danger to low-lying areas along the river in the district.
“Subdivisional magistrates of Kharar, Dera Bassi and Mohali have been put on high alert. Other officers of the district administration have also been issued necessary instructions to tackle the emergency situation. They have been asked not to leave their headquarters in any case,” he said.
Meanwhile, additional deputy commissioner Sakshi Sawhney said seven villages in Dera Bassi — Tiwana, Alamgiri, Khajur Mandi, Sarsini, Deher, Danghera and Sadhanpur — have been inundated possibly because of water being released from the Kaushalaya dam. Relief camps have been set up at Jashan Palace and Government School, Lalru, for these villages. Camps have also been set up at Model Town, Kurali, for surrounding villages.
470 STUDENTS, TEACHERS RESCUED
Students and teachers of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya at Rakoli village near Jhingran Kalan on the Siswan seasonal rivulet bed in Mohali were rescued by a team of the district administration after they were stuck in flood waters that entered the premises
Mohali DC Girish Dayalan said around 430 students and 40 teachers and other staff members were evacuated from the school building that was submerged in three-foot deep water. All the students and teachers reside on the campus, he said
It has come to the fore that the school was set up by the Mohali administration in 2009 without taking the no-objection certificate from the district drainage department.
