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Breach in Sirhind Canal distributary floods 200 houses in Punjab’s Bathinda
Efforts on to plug 60-ft breach in old irrigation channel after heavy rain in catchment area upstream, residents say water accumulated up to six feet in low-lying Sai Nagar locality.
Nearly 200 houses in the Sai Nagar locality in Bathinda were flooded after a breach in a distributary of the Sirhind Canal early on Friday.
Officials said efforts are on to plug the 60-foot breach in the low-lying area near Ganpati Enclave on Dabwali road.
Deputy commissioner Showkat Ahmad Parray said that the water supply in the canal had been stopped and the level had come down by a foot by noon. He said that the catchment area upstream had been getting heavy rain this week, which led to a sudden increase in the water level in the irrigation channel.
“The canal distributary is old and the embankment was breached due to heavy flow. The irrigation department is repairing the breach and we expect it to be plugged in three days,” Parray said.
Gurjit Singh, a local resident, said the entire locality was submerged with water accumulating up to six feet in several parts. People were seen using tractor-trolleys to rescue residents and household articles from the flooded houses.
“The current in the canal was so strong that it did not give enough time to move to a safer place. My daily needs shop is flooded, too,” said a woman running a provision store in the area.
Another resident, Daljit Singh, expressed concern over a disease outbreak due to the flooding of the area.
The DC said that the administration has despatched meals and potable water to residents of Sai Nagar. “Dewatering of the area has begun and the health department will soon carry out fogging to control any disease outbreak,” he added.
