Punjab CM asks ministers to visit flood-hit areas; rescue operations underway

Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday asked his ministers to visit the flood-hit areas in the state, even as rescue and relief operations are underway in Hoshiarpur, Rupnagar and Gurdaspur districts.

Many areas in Hoshiarpur, Rupnagar and Gurdaspur districts were inundated following the release of excess water from the Bhakra and Pong dams, officials said.

The Bhakra Dam on Sutlej river and the Pong Dam on Beas river -- both in Himachal Pradesh -- are brimming after heavy rain in their respective catchment areas.

Authorities have already launched rescue and relief operations in the flood-hit areas in these three districts and also said that they were keeping a watch on the situation.

Chief Minister Mann directed his ministers to visit flood-hit areas and also issued directions to depute teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), said official sources.

In an advisory on Monday, the Punjab government had asked residents of Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Tarn Taran districts not to venture near the Beas after it was decided that water from the Pong Dam would be released.

After water was released from dams, it entered low-lying areas and several villages, even some houses, located on the banks of Beas and Sutlej rivers. Crops have also been submerged at several places because of floodwaters, villagers said. Many villagers have been evacuated to safety, officials said.

Cabinet ministers Harbhajan Singh and Bram Shanker Jimpa took stock of the situation of flood-hit areas in Tanda Urmar in Hoshiarpur district.

Speaking to reporters, Singh said rescue operations were underway and that boats have been deployed to evacuate people to safety.

He also said that public works department and mining department were engaged in plugging the breaches of embankments along the Beas river.

Punjab Education Minister and Anandpur Sahib MLA Harjot Singh Bains, visited flood-hit areas in Rupnagar district and asked people not to panic. He said people trapped in Harsa Bela and Patti Dulchi villages in Anandpur Sahib have been rescued.

He also appealed to people living near the banks of Sutlej river that they should move to safer places. Bains said the CM was himself monitoring the situation.

Punjab has been flooded for the second time in just over a month. Several parts of Punjab were affected by a rains in the state between July 9 and July 11, which flooded vast expanses of agricultural fields and other areas, besides paralysing normal life.