E-Paper
Beas in spate, 30,000 acres of fields flooded in Punjab’s Kapurthala
Nearly 8,000 people of 14 worst-hit villages evacuated to safer places upstream on motor boats after sudden rise in water level of river.
The swollen Beas river on Tuesday inundated low-lying areas in the mand area of Kapurthala district with 15-20 feet of water accumulating in the paddy fields.
The mand area, which is located between the Beas and Dhussi bundh, the main embankment managed by the state government, remained disconnected from the mainland.
At present, 1.55 lakh cusecs of water is flowing in the Beas river due to heavy rainfall in the catchment areas in Himachal Pradesh.
On Tuesday morning, the advance embankment at Aahli Kalan village got breached, inundating nearly 30,000 acres of paddy crop. The villagers were strengthening this embankment for the past 10 days as it acted as a shield to save farmland of 30 villages, which hardly have any population.
“The breach was strategically built by the villagers to save their land from the gushing water of the Beas. The situation has now turned grim as the farmers fear loss to the paddy crop,” said Rajya Sabha member Balbir Singh Seechewal.
Earlier, nearly 8,000 people of 14 worst-affected villages were evacuated to safer places upstream on motor boats due to the sudden increase in the water level in the Beas river.
Three members of a family were injured after the roof of their house collapsed due to floods in Kabirpura village of Kapurthala district.
According to the Bhakra Beas Management Board, Pong Dam is brimming at a record high of 1,385 feet, just five feet below the dam’s maximum capacity of 1,390 feet.
Built on the Beas, the Pong Dam’s catchment areas include Kangra, Mandi, and Kullu districts in Himachal Pradesh, which have witnessed heavy rainfall and cloudbursts in the past week. Pong reservoir recorded an inflow of 1.1 lakh cusecs from the catchment areas.
Ravi river in spate in Majha
Due to the incessant rain in the hills, the flood situation turned grim in the catchment areas of the Ravi river in the Majha region.
The dhussi bandh at Ghaniye Ke village in Dera Baba Nanak sub division of Gurdaspur district was breached by flood waters on Tuesday, inundating hundreds of acres of farmland and damaging crops.
The Border Security Force carried out a special rescue mission in the flood-affected village of Diller Pur Kheda in Dinanagar block of Gurdaspur district.
The BSF’s rescue party, supported by an inflatable boat and skilled operators from its water wing, rescued nearly 60 civilians, ensuring their safety amid the critical situation.
Madhopur headworks gates opened
In Pathankot, the gates of Madhopur headworks were opened on Tuesday. Transportation over the Madhopur bridge was restricted to prevent any tragedy as a large quantity of water was released from the Ranjit Sagar dam.
After the collapse of the old road bridge over the Chakki river, the flood water started eroding soil beneath the new bridge which connects Jalandhar to Pathankot and Jammu through the national highway.
The Pathankot administration had set up two shelter homes at Radha Soami Satsang Beas congregation centre on Dalhousie road and at Gurdwara Barath Sahib.
