E-Paper
Flood fear in Punjab, Haryana as Ghaggar rises after rain upstream in Himachal
As per the Punjab government, water is flowing at 9 feet in the Ghaggar river, which is just one below the danger mark of 10 feet
Parts of Punjab and Haryana are facing the danger of floods as water level in the Ghaggar river neared the danger mark on Wednesday morning after persistent rain upstream in Himachal Pradesh.
The Patiala administration made an appeal to residents of at least 20 villages on the banks of the Ghaggar in three subdivisions of the district to stay away from the river. As per the Punjab government, water is flowing at 9 feet in the Ghaggar river, which is just one below the danger mark of 10 feet.
In Haryana, the district administration of Panchkula, a town adjacent to the two states' common capital Chandigarh, also issued an advisory urging people to stay away from rivers, drains and waterlogged areas after heavy overnight rain.
Ambala deputy commissioner Ajay Tomar said, “We have alerted the irrigation and revenue departments, and a close watch is being kept on the water levels in Ghaggar river. The situation is normal as of now.” He cited rain in neighbouring states and an IMD yellow alert for heavy rain in Panchkula, Ambala and Yamunanagar as the reason.
Rain continued to lash many parts of Punjab and Haryana, too, the meteorological department said on Wednesday.
In Punjab, Gurdaspur received 71.5 mm of rain during the 24-hour period which ended at 8.30 am on Wednesday, the weather office said. Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Mohali, Pathankot, Rupnagar, Faridkot and Patiala also received rainfall during this period.
The minimum temperature in Amritsar settled at 24.5 degrees, a notch below normal. Mohali was at 23.8, two notches below normal, according to the meteorological department.
Chandigarh received 15.8 mm of rainfall and the minimum temperature in the UT was at 23.7 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal.
In Haryana, Ambala, Narnaul, Panchkula, Kaithal and Faridabad received rain, agencies reported.
