Punjab rain fury: 48 Mansa villages face flooding as Ghaggar breaches banks at 2 spots

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Mansa, July 15

The Ghaggar unleashed its fury in Punjab’s Mansa district on Saturday with floodwaters entering villages bordering Haryana following two breaches.

The river’s embankments at Rorki village of Sardulgarh and near Chandpura Dam at Budhlada in Mansa district gave way on the Punjab side, triggering panic in several villages.

Crops on hundreds of acres at Chandpura and Sidhani villages in Haryana are under water, which has now started entering villages of Punjab. While people are trying to plug the breaches, as many as 48 villages of Mansa face the threat of flooding.

People of several Budhlada and Sardulgarh villages have started moving their belongings to safer places. Punjab Kisan Union vice-president Darshan Singh said crops had been affected up to Budhlada’s Kulrian village, but floodwaters were likely to affect several other villages in the area. There was a threat to crops at Bhawa, Chak Alisher, Birewala Dogra, Riund Khurd and Riund Kalan, he added. People of Lakhivala, Hakamwala, Sandli, Faridke and Mofar were also bracing for flooding.

Mansa Deputy Commissioner Rishi Pal Singh said the Ghaggar’s waters were flowing at these levels in the district for the first time since 1993. “There have been two breaches and we are trying to plug these. However, the current is quite strong and it may take time to repair these,” he said.

As per information, a small bridge over the Ghaggar in Sardulgarh was removed to ease flow of water, but a breach was reported this morning. Sardulgarh MLA Gurpreet Singh Baniwala alleged Chandpura Dam was located in Haryana, which had imposed Section 144 in the area, preventing strengthening of the bundh by people from Punjab. A breach had now taken place and Punjab villages were getting inundated.