Heavy flow in rivers continues; Ambala, Kurukshetra residents, admn on toes

After Markanda, Tangri and Ghaggar rivers, the heavy flow of water in the SYL Canal and Narwana branch became a matter of concern for residents in Ambala and Kurukshetra on Thursday.

The rivers flowing from Ambala continue to receive heavy flow of water, triggering panic among the residents of the villages along with rivers in the district.

After flooding the residential colonies in Ambala Cantonment, a breach in the Tangri river at Shahpur village left hundreds of acres waterlogged. After finding the breach, a collective effort was launched to plug the breach by the farmer unions, local residents and the district administration.

Bhartiya Kisan Union (Shaheed Bhagat Singh) spokesman Tejveer Singh informed that the union members, along with the local residents, have been making efforts to plug the breach as the heavy flow was damaging the crops.

Vikas Behgal, former sarpanch of Bara village and BJP gramin mandal president, said, “The breach has affected over 1,000 acres in the area. Residents of 8-10 villages are working to plug the breach. The water will impact adjoining villages including Bara, Babaheri, Machonda and Tharwa if the breach is not plugged soon.”

At Naisi village of Kurukshetra, villagers expressed unhappiness over another breach in the Markanda banks. As per the information vailable, the Markanda has breached its banks at least three times over the past three months, causing damage to hundreds of acres.

Meanwhile, the Ghaggar river caused waterlogging in a number of villages including Lohgarh, Manakpur, Ghel, Nizampur and several other areas in Ambala. Former Ambala City BJP MLA Aseem Goel inspected the affected areas. Several people were rescued and shifted to safer places in Ghel village.

Congress MLA Nirmal Singh also visited the villages affected by Ghaggar and criticised the government for not taking adequate steps to prevent waterlogging due to the river and for poor drainage.

Meanwhile, residents of Naggal area held a protest at Ismailpur village and raised objection over the diversion of water from Narwana branch to SYL Canal. They said that the SYL was in poor condition and will cause breaches and waterlogging in several village of Naggal area. Later, officials of the Irrigation Department managed to persuade the villagers and assured them of releasing the water in a controlled manner.

XEN Irrigation Department Sandeep Kumar said that the situation is under control so far and the water in the Narwana branch and SYL is being regulated. The issue has been resolved.

DC Ambala Ajay Singh Tomer said, “After hitting the level of 43,000 cusecs last night, the water level in Tangri has been decreasing gradually. Similarly, the water level in Ghaggar has also decreased marginally. Last night, Ghaggar registered its peak flow due to which the water was overflowing and some water was passing on the NH-152 as well. The traffic on NH-152 was diverted to avoid any untoward incident.”

Ambala MP Varun Chaudhry said, “We have repeatedly requested the government for the proper maintenance of the rivers and strengthening of embankments but no action was taken. People have been suffering losses due to breaches and overflowing of rivers. Despite the fact that a number of Ambala villages have been affected by waterlogging, the e-kshatipurti portal for Ambala is yet to be opened. I will hold a meeting with the district administration on Friday and discuss all the issues.”

In Kurukshetra the Markanda river continued to cause waterlogging. The Kurukshetra district administration has sounded an alert for the villages along the SYL and Narwana branch in Kurukshetra.

Deputy Commissioner Vishram Kumar Meena said that following a continuous increase in water level in Markanda, SYL and Narwana, the Irrigation Department and other departments concerned have been directed to stay on alert. An alert has been sounded for the villages along the SYL and Narwana branch.

JJP leader Dushyant Chautala, along with party workers and leaders, visited the affected areas in Kurukshetra. He said that timely arrangements were not made due to which lakhs of acres of crops are under water in the state. Affected farmers should be compensated for their loss.