All-terrain vehicles, boats deployed to rescue stranded villagers in Amritsar

Chandigarh/Amritsar, Aug 28 (PTI) Rescue and relief operations were carried out in the flood-hit areas across districts in Punjab on Thursday, even as several villages and low-lying areas remained submerged.

The district administrations, with the help of Army, National Disaster Relief Force, Border Security Force and state agencies, continued rescue operations even as the situation remained grim.

The Amritsar district administration evacuated several people, including women, children and elderly, who were stranded in the swamped villages of Ramdas area.

Amphibious all-terrain vehicles, or ATORs, and boats were deployed to rescue stranded people in the area, which was inundated by the rising waters of River Ravi.

Amritsar Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney, accompanied by Jalandhar Senior Superintendent of Police (Rural) Maninder Singh and Additional Deputy Commissioner Rohit Gupta, supervised the rescue operation, said an official.

Among the villages affected were Ghonewala, Machhiwala, Mangu Naru, Shahzada, Jattan, Kot Gurbaksh, Pashian, Nissoke, Singhoke, Mehmad, Mundranwala, Ghaggar, Dharmabad, Ramdass, Shampura, Nangal Sohal, Rurewal, Pandori, Langarpur, Galib, and Bedi Channa.

The rescued people were given relief material and food and taken to safer places, the official said.

The Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers and seasonal rivulets have risen following heavy rains in their catchment areas in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, inundating large swathes of farmland and villages along their banks.

The worst-affected villages are in Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Fazilka, Kapurthala, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Hoshiarpur and Amritsar districts.

The respective district administrations have been appealing to people in flood-hit areas to reach safer places with the use of boats.

The Punjab government has mobilised its entire cabinet to the affected districts to oversee relief operations and ensure the safety of residents.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has directed all the ministers to remain in the field until the situation is under control.

The cabinet ministers are actively monitoring the distribution of essential supplies, managing evacuation efforts, and addressing the immediate needs of those displaced by the floods, officials said. PTI CHS RUK RUK