Tangri river swells, water enters houses

Nitish Sharma

Tribune News Service

Ambala, August 13

A heavy rainfall in the Shivalik region brought about 12,000 cusecs of water in the seasonal Tangri river in Ambala Cantonment on Monday.

Water entered several low-lying areas, including New Preet Nagar, Sai Mandir area and Parshuram Mandir Colony. These colonies have been built on the Tangri riverbed.

The district administration asked residents to vacate their houses and shift to safer places.

Several shifted their belongings to safer places after water entered their houses. Niranjan Kumar, a resident of an affected colony, said: “We face the same situation every year. Water enters the houses, and damages food and furniture.”

Another resident said, “Over the years water has been entering the houses. As a result, foundation of several houses has weakened and the walls have developed cracks. The state government must rehabilitate us. A majority of the people who reside here are daily-wagers.”

Additional Deputy Commissioner Capt Shakti Singh, Ambala Cantonment SDM Subhash Sihag, Municipal Corporation Joint Commissioner Gagandeep Singh and officials of the Irrigation Department visited the river site to monitor the situation.

Sihag said, “Water is receding and there is no need to shift people. But ‘dharmshalas’ have been identified where people will be shifted in case of emergency. Water entered colonies which were built deep inside the bandh. Food was provided to 400 to 500 people in the affected colonies.”

Praveen Gupta, Executive Engineer (XEN), Irrigation, said: “Last year, about 10,000 cusecs of water entered the river and it had caused damage in low-lying areas. But this year, the creek widened and not much damage was done even after about 12,000 cusecs of water entered the river. Water is receding. Around 5 pm, about 11,000 cusecs water was flowing and it is expected to reduce to about 4,000 cusecs by night.”