Punjab Govt seeks Army help in Mohali district

Vishav Bharti

Chandigarh, July 9

The state government has asked for Army to deal with floods in Mohali district.

In a communication sent today to the Adviser, Civil Military Affairs of GOC-in-C Secretariat, Western Command, Chandimandir, the Punjab Home Secretary has requested for the deployment of the Army to start rescue relief measures in flood-hit SAS Nagar.

The government swiftly acted on the request received from Mohali Deputy Commissioner Aashika Jain, who had conveyed to the government that there was a grave situation of flooding arising due to the continuous rain in the past three days. There is a weather forecast of continuous rain this week as well and water has started entering houses in both urban and rural areas.

“Keeping in view the prevailing situation of incessant rain and grave situation of flooding, you are requested to provide suitable number of internal security columns of the Army to mitigate the situation,” said the Mohali DC.

Pressing upon the gravity of the situation, she said, “We have already mobilised all resources available within our district and six NDRF teams have been requisitioned to provide assistance to affected individuals. The district administration is already meticulously monitoring the ground situation and, therefore, if need arises, internal security columns of the Army may be requisitioned.

“Further, nodal officers of the Western Command may be alerted to reduce the response time as and when need arises so that efforts already undertaken by the district administration can be strengthened,” she said.

Ghaggar in spate, villagers shifted

Dera Bassi: The concerted efforts, reinforcement and vigilance have kept the Tiwana embankment intact. The administration is making efforts to thwart the impending danger of floods in low-lying villages of Tiwana, Dera, Alamgir and Khajur Mandi in Dera Bassi subdivision due to the swollen Ghaggar. Mohali DC Aashika Jain, while inspecting the Ghaggar embankment, said the children and women of Tiwana village had been shifted to Jashan Palace near Lalru as a precautionary measure. TNS

Snag, broken poles snap power supply

Three grids at IT City, Chandiala in Landran and Mohi Kalan near Zirakpur remained down since morning, plunging vast areas in Mohali, Zirakpur and Landran into darkness till late at night. Parts of Nayagaon, Kansal and Mullanpur remained powerless for most part of the day as the feeder supply was snapped reportedly due to the heavy rain and two rivulets in spate. The PSPCL officials said they are patrolling the area and trying to restore the supply. TNS