Tribune News Service
Ruchika M Khanna
Chandigarh, August 23
Punjab is on high alert as the water inflow into two dams — Pong and Bhakra — has begun to increase again, raising their water level.
This necessitated the release of more water from the two dams today as compared to yesterday. Schools across the state have been closed from today till August 26.
The situation has arisen once again because of incessant rain in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh, specifically in the catchment area of the two dams. As a result, the water level in the Pong Dam has again reached the maximum level of 1,390 ft. The inflow into the dam has increased by over two times — from 58,702 cusecs yesterday to 1,38,674 cusecs this evening. This has forced the authorities to release more water from the dam by partially opening the floodgates. Today, 67,340 cusecs of water was released from the dam against 65,711 cusecs released yesterday.
Similarly, the water level in the Bhakra Dam is also getting closer to its maximum level of 1,680 ft – at 1,674.18 ft this evening. The inflow in the dam has increased to 1,28,406 cusecs as against 72,835 cusecs yesterday. In Bhakra too, the water release has been more than yesterday. Against 49,500 cusecs released yesterday, 58,400 cusecs was released today, an increase of almost 9,000 cusecs. Senior officials in the state Irrigation Department say if the rain continues in the catchment area of the dams, Punjab may once again face the brunt, as more water will be released from the dams.
This has led to a high level of water in both the Sutlej and the Beas. The water level of the Sutlej continued to remain high at Harike at 1,42,766 cusecs and at Hussainiwala at 1,33,224 cusecs. The Beas too continued to have a high water level of 1,37,200 cusecs at Hoshiarpur (Passi) and of 1,36,000 cusecs at Kapurthala (Dhilwan).
Across Punjab, nine districts of Amritsar, Ferozepur, Fatehgarh Sahib, Fazilka, Gurdaspur, Moga, Patiala, Ropar and Tarn Taran were affected by the incessant rain today. The flood situation continued to remain grim in Fazilka, where the body of a missing person was found today and six new villages were affected by the floodwaters, taking the total number of affected villages there to 45. There are reports of 72 houses being damaged in Gurdaspur, Ropar, Amritsar, Patiala and Fatehgarh Sahib. The process of evacuation of stranded people too continued by the civil and police administration and 176 persons were evacuated from Ferozepur and Fazilka.
