Chandigarh, Aug 27
Hundreds of villages in Punjab along the swollen Satluj, Beas, and Ravi rivers were flooded on Wednesday, severely affecting life and damaging crops after the floodgates of the Bhakra and Pong dams were opened. The inflow into these reservoirs had alarmingly increased due to torrential rains in their catchment areas, mainly Himachal Pradesh.
Rescue and evacuation of people are currently underway by teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). The worst-affected districts are Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Fazilka, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar.
Authorities, however, said the inflow in the reservoirs declined significantly compared to Tuesday, with the decline in the rainfall activity.
The flood gates of both dams, which serve the irrigation requirements of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, were opened to lower the reservoir level.
With the opening of the floodgates, a flood-like situation prevailed mainly in Punjab’s Ropar, Anandpur Sahib and Hoshiarpur districts and Himachal’s Kangra district.
In Punjab, the inundation of villages has been reported second time within a month, severely impacting the standing crops.