Breach along Ghaggar branch near Lehra fully plugged: SDO

Sushil Goyal

Sangrur, June 12

A 25-ft wide breach today occurred along the Ghaggar branch canal, 2 km away from Lehra towards Bakshiwala village, about 40 km from here. The breach occurred as excess water was reportedly released in the canal from Ghaggar Branch Head at Rohti (Nabha) last night. However, no loss of life or property is reported.

Talking to this reporter over the phone, Sub Division Officer (SDO), Irrigation, Dayalpura, Gurjit Singh said this evening that the 25-feet breach had been plugged fully by using sand bags and JCB machine with the help of workers. He said the breach had occurred as excess water in the canal came from the Ghaggar Branch Head at Rohti (Nabha) the previous night.

The SDO further said the canal water had not spread in any area or in the fields as it entered into an adjoining abandoned distributary and deep pits along the canal. He also said that the flow of the water in the canal is now under control and there are no chances of any further breach in the canal.

As per information, after receiving information about the breach in the canal, the SHO of Lehragaga Sadar police station Ranbir Singh along with police party reached there and took stock of the situation. Then SDO Gurjit Singh also reached at the spot and started making arrangements to plug the breach as early as possible. However, the workers struggled for several hours to plug the breach with the sand bags.

It is also learnt that this canal was constructed some decades ago due to which the banks of the canal have now started weakening. The residents of the Lehra area have demanded from the state government to take requisite initiatives to strengthen the banks of the canal soon, so that people could feel safe during the ensuing monsoon.