Punjab flood: Death toll reaches 37, schools shut till Sep 7 as fresh rains bring more trouble

Chandigarh, Sep 3 (PTI) A fresh spell of heavy rains compounded the flood situation in Punjab with the death toll rising to 37 on Wednesday, while crops on 1.75 lakh hectares of land in 23 districts got damaged by the worst deluge in the state since 1988.

Rescue and relief operations are underway on a war footing as help poured in from several quarters for over 3.55 lakh people in 1,655 villages, desperately looking for succour.

Following heavy rains, an alert has been sounded in Rupnagar and Patiala districts, urging people to remain vigilant, while all schools, colleges and universities have been closed till September 7.

With rains refusing to relent in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, the already swollen Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers originating in the Himalayas and seasonal rivulets inundated towns, villages and agricultural lands, upending normal life.

The Punjab government released Rs 71 crore as an immediate relief and rehabilitation measure, with the AAP dispensation reiterating that it was committed to compensating people for their losses.

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will visit the flood-hit areas in Punjab on Thursday to review the extent of crop damage. AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, along with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, will also assess the flood damage on the same day. He will take stock of the relief work being carried out in the state and interact with the affected people, said the party.

Rains in Punjab have aggravated the flood situation.

The water level in the Bhakra dam at 6 am was 1,677.84 feet, against its maximum capacity of 1,680 feet. The inflow in the dam was 86,822 cusecs while the outflow was 65,042 cusecs.

In view of heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh, the water discharge from the dam was being increased from 65,000 cusecs to 75,000 cusecs, officials said and warned that Nangal's villages may be inundated.

Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management Minister Hardeep Singh Mundian said the state is reeling under one of the worst floods in recent decades, with widespread crop devastation reported across 1,75,216 hectares of farmland.

Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Mansa, Ferozepur and Fazilka are among the worst-hit districts, accounting for the bulk of the agricultural losses, he said.

The minister said that 37 lives have been lost across 12 districts, while three persons remain missing in Pathankot.

The highest fatalities have been reported in Hoshiarpur, where seven lives have been lost, followed by six in Pathankot, five in Barnala, four each in Amritsar and Ludhiana, three each in Bathinda and Mansa, and one each in Gurdaspur, Patiala, Rupnagar, SAS Nagar and Sangrur.

The flood-related data is from August 1 to September 3.

Gurdaspur alone suffered crop damage over 40,169 hectares, followed by Mansa 24,967 hectares, Amritsar 23,000 hectares, Fazilka 17,786 hectares, Ferozepur 17,620 hectares, and Kapurthala 14,934 hectares, among others.

The Rupnagar district administration has asked people living near the Sutlej river to stay on alert in the wake of an increase in the discharge of water from the Bhakra dam.

Punjab Cabinet Minister Harjot Bains appealed to Sri Anandpur Sahib residents living on riverbanks and low-lying areas to shift to safer places or relief camps.

He visited over two dozen flood-affected villages and personally oversaw the evacuation of families stranded along the Sutlej river.

Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria visited the flood-ravaged areas in Pathankot district, while AAP leader Manish Sisodia visited the flood-hit areas in Tarn Taran district.

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha announced providing Rs 3.25 crore from his Local Area Development Scheme fund for relief work.

MP Sandeep Pathak visited flood-hit villages in Ferozepur district and released Rs 5 crore from the MPLADS funds for the affected villages in the border district. Rajya Sabha MP Balbir Singh Seechewal also announced a grant of Rs 50 lakh from his discretionary funds to support the affected people.

Relief and rescue operations by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Army, Border Security Force, Punjab Police and district authorities are underway in the affected areas, officials said.

Meanwhile, the Patiala district administration issued an alert for villages near the Ghaggar river in the Rajpura sub-division in the wake of heavy rains in the catchment areas.

According to officials, the water level of the Tangri river has risen close to the danger mark in Ambala and is expected to rise in Patiala following heavy rains in Ambala and Kala Amb. PTI CHS NSD NSD