Sirsa, Fatehabad towns safe, but flood threat looms: Administration

Deepender Deswal

Sirsa/Fatehabad, July 21

Even as the administration has taken measures to protect the urban areas in Sirsa and Fatehabad towns, villages in the two districts are still living in the fear of heavy flooding due to the rising level of the Ghaggar and free-flowing floodwaters approaching from Punjab.

Sirsa district officials said the situation was under control and the floodwater flowing from Fatehabad had been spread in the fields. It was unlikely to breach the two bundhs that were recently set up.

Energy Minister Ranjit Singh visited the Chamal head of the Ghaggar today and said the situation was under control, adding that it was for the first time in many years that the water level in the Ghaggar had crossed the 40,000-cusec mark.

Divisional Commissioner Hisar Geeta Bharti today took stock of the situation in Sirsa. After visiting the Ottu head of the Ghaggar in Sirsa, she said embankments along the river had been strengthened and the administration, with the help of villagers, was keeping a round-the-clock vigilance on the embankments. She added that the water level was likely to recede in the Ghaggar by tonight.

Similarly, Fatehabad town had also escaped the flood threat, with the district administration diverting the floodwaters towards Sirsa. A district official said they had ensured that the water would not enter the residential areas in the Fatehabad town.