Leave home, residents of 21 Patiala villages told as Ghaggar swells

The district administration on Wednesday told residents of 21 villages in Ghanaur subdivision to vacate their homes and shift to safer places amid fears of a breach in Ghaggar embankments.

Meanwhile, teams of the Army and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been put on standby, assembling boats and other life-saving equipment as the river water level continued to rise. MGNREGA workers were camped near Sarala village, where the water flow is expected to erode the embankment.

Trucks unloading sand kept making repeated rounds as people worked to strengthen the breach.

On the other hand, villagers are staying put and refused to vacate their houses. Many villagers could be seen storing valuables on rooftops.

The villages for which the alert has been sounded are Tepla, Rajgarh, Mehmoodpur, Darwa, Sanjarpur, Nanheri, Raipur, ,Shamaspur, Untsar, Jand Manoli, Harpala, Kami Khurd, Rampur, Saunta, Chamaru, Kapuri, Kamalpur, Lacchru Khurd, Sarala Kalan, Mehduda and Sarala Khurd.

Health Minister Balbir Singh also visited the Sarala head, the meeting point of the Ghaggar and Bhakhra Canal.