Death toll in Punjab and Haryana floods hits 39, relief operations continue

PTI

Chandigarh, July 14

At least 39 people have died in rain-related incidents in Punjab and Haryana even as relief and rescue operations continued in flood-affected areas of the two states on Friday.

The floodwater in the two states battered by three days of heavy downpour earlier this week has started receding from some areas.

District authorities, along with personnel from the Army, Border Security Force and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), continued their operation to evacuate stranded people from flood-hit areas and also distributed dry ration, medicines, drinking water and cattle fodder.

Over 22,000 people have been moved to safety from waterlogged localities in various flood-hit districts of Punjab.

In neighbouring Haryana, 4,495 people have been evacuated, officials said.

According to official data, 19 people have died in rain-related incidents in Punjab while the death toll in Haryana stands at 20.

Fourteen districts have been affected in Punjab and 13 in Haryana. The two states were pummelled by heavy rain from Saturday to Monday.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann visited Ferozepur district and Lohian in Jalandhar district to take stock of the situation, the officials said.

The water flow rate in the Hathnikund barrage in Yamunanagar was at 65,183 cusecs at 7 am, 54,554 cusecs at 11 am, 58,495 cusecs at 3 pm and 56,217 cusecs at 6 pm. The flow rate was significantly lower than Tuesday morning's 3.21 lakh cusecs, they added.

The flood water has receded from some areas, including Fatehgarh Sahib. However, several villages in the Moonak sub-division of Sangrur district remained inundated as the Ghaggar river continued to be in spate, the officials said.

Water from the overflowing river has submerged several villages in Patiala district.

In Patran, the worst-hit area in the district, the authorities are conducting relief and rescue operations in low-lying areas and distributing ration to the affected people, said Sub-Divisional Magistrate Navneet Kumar. So far, more than 450 people have been rescued, he said.

An NDRF team rescued a woman stranded in Dera Hira Nagar in Patiala's Patran after receiving a distress call.

Work to plug a 350-feet-wide breach in the 'dhusi bundh (earthen embankment)' along the Sutlej river in the Mandhala area of Jalandhar district's Lohian block is continuing.

The officials said a 50-feet breach has been plugged so far and the remainder will be done in a couple of days.

In Ludhiana, polluted water from the Buddha nullah -- which carries industrial effluents, solid waste and domestic sewage -- entered the Tajpur Road, Dhoka Mohalla, Dharm Pura, Shiv Puri, Shivaji Nagar and the Kashmir Nagar colonies.

According to Punjab government data, of the 19 people killed in the floods, eight died in the past two days. Six people are missing and 14 injured, according to the data.

A total of 22,764 people have been evacuated while 1,179 villages have been affected by flood water. Fifty houses have been fully damaged while 238 suffered partial damage. The government has set up 161 relief camps in the affected areas.

In Haryana, government figures updated till 4 pm showed that 20 people have been killed in rain-related incidents following the addition of four more deaths.

The data showed that nearly 1,000 villages have been affected against 854 earlier. The number of people evacuated from the affected areas stands at 4,495.

Twenty-seven relief camps have been opened in the state where 2,469 people are being sheltered. A total of 127 houses have been fully damaged and 135 partially.

The crop area affected is over 1.49 lakh hectares. The infrastructure damage includes roads, bridges, culverts and retaining walls.

The government has distributed nearly 15,000 food packets and relief material among the affected people.

Thirteen districts -- Ambala, Fatehabad, Faridabad, Panchkula, Jhajjar, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Kaithal, Panipat, Sonipat, Palwal, Sirsa and Yamunanagar -- have been hit by the recent downpour.

The Congress' Haryana unit has submitted a memorandum to the governor, seeking immediate survey of the losses of crops and property and compensation to the affected.

On Friday, Haryana Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta took stock of the flood situation in affected areas of Panchkula district.

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