With the flood situation under control, the district administrations in Kapurthala, SBS Nagar, and Jalandhar districts have turned their attention to reinforcing embankments along the Beas and Sutlej rivers.
Both the Beas and Sutlej rivers are flowing at a steady pace. Beas recorded the flow of 1.72 lakh cusecs at the Dhilwan gauge in Kapurthala, while Sutlej’s flow was recorded at 1.34 lakh cusecs at Gidderpindi in Jalandhar.
SBS Nagar deputy commissioner Ankurjeet Singh said the heavy erosion was reported at a dhussi bundh in Tajewal-Mandala location due to heavy flow of water and was promptly repaired and strengthened by army personnel and locals.
“We have been providing all the requisite material to villagers to strengthen the embankment,” he said.
Jalandhar DC Himanshu Aggarwal said all the vulnerable points on dhussi embankment in Jalandhar’s Phillaur, Nakodar, and Shahkot were being monitored round the clock. “Teams of NDRF have been deployed on the Gidderpindi railway bridge to remove raw vegetation in order to avoid any sort of hindrance in water flow,” he said.
Meanwhile, in Ludhiana, with the Sutlej river water levels rising dangerously, the Ludhiana district administration issued an alert and urged residents of nearby villages to immediately move to safer places.
Officials said that the situation remains critical near Village Sasrali in the Ludhiana East region. The district administration, in collaboration with the army, NDRF, and local villagers, are constructing a new temporary ring bundh nearly 500m from the existing dhussi bandh in Sasrali Colony on a war footing.
Central team visits flood-hit areas
Kapurthala: A four-member central team visited Kapurthala district and surveyed the flood-affected areas in Sultanpur Lodhi on Friday.
The team, comprising Laxman Ram Buldak, director, agriculture, RK Tiwari, CEA, ministry of power, Sudeep Dutta, Under Secretary, union ministry of rural development, Prakash Chand, deputy director, ministry of Jal Shakti, took a boat ride to assess the situation. Kapurthala deputy commissioner Amit Kumar Panchal briefed the team about the flow of the Beas River and about the losses incurred by people in the mand area of Sultanpur Lodhi. The teams also interacted with the affected families at Baupur and Sangra to get information about the damage caused. “We have provided detailed information about loss to nearly 35,000 acres in Sultanpur Lodhi, Bholath, and Bholath areas in Kapurthala district,” the DC said. The central team also held a meeting with the officials of revenue, PSPCL, animal husbandry, agricultural, and education departments.
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Bhakra, Pong dams see heavy water inflows
Jalandhar
The water level of Pong Dam on the Beas river was recorded at 1,394.71 feet on Friday at 5pm. This is 4.71 feet above the reservoir’s maximum filling capacity of 1,390 feet. The water level in the dam is 31.98 feet higher than last year on the same day. BBMB, in a statement on Friday, said it will take the reservoir water level to 1,410 feet.
The water inflow was recorded at 1.05 lakh cusecs from the catchment areas, including Kangra, Mandi, and Kullu districts of Himachal Pradesh. while 99,763 cusecs is being released into the Beas through turbines and spillway gates.
The water level at Bhakra Dam’s Gobind Sagar Lake, which is built over the Sutlej river, was recorded at 1678.74 feet, just one foot below the danger mark of 1680 feet. The dam recorded an increase of 36.98 feet in the water level than last year on the same day. The inflow in the reservoir was 76,318 cusecs, while 80,792 cusecs was released downstream on Friday.
The water level in the Ranjit Sagar Dam, built over the Ravi, is 526.39 metres (1727ft) up from 501.61 metres (1643.99) recorded last year on the same day. The danger mark is 527.91 meters (1731.9 ft). The water inflow in the reservoir is 49,025 cusecs, while 70,657 cusecs was released into the Ravi.