Patiala, Sept. 4 — The flood situation in Ghanaur and Rajpura blocks of Patiala district turned critical on Thursday after the swollen Ghaggar river breached the embankment of the Bhakra Main Canal (Narwana branch) near Sarala village, where the canal runs parallel to the river. The combined waters of the river and canal inundated several villages, forcing large-scale evacuations.
The affected villages include Untsar, Rampur, Chamaru, Mavi Kalan, Jhand Mangoli and Sarala. Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Army deployed boats to rescue stranded residents.
Rajpura Sub-Divisional Magistrate Avikesh Gupta, who was supervising relief efforts on the ground, said authorities have asked for the canal’s water level to be reduced. “At present, this breach cannot be plugged as water is on both sides of the embankment,” Gupta said, adding that water levels in the Ghaggar are expected to start receding by Thursday evening.
He noted that the river has breached embankments at several places. “Since the situation is grim, we are plugging breaches to avoid the flow of water to villages. The administration is working on a war footing to prevent flooding,” Gupta said.
A relief camp has been set up at the local gurdwara, where langar (community kitchen) is being served to displaced residents. However, continued rainfall has hampered the work of strengthening embankments and repairing breaches.
Meanwhile, the state government said on Thursday that 37 people have died in flood-related incidents this season. A total of 1,655 villages have been affected across Punjab, with Gurdaspur district reporting the maximum impact at 324 villages. Other badly hit areas include Amritsar (190 villages), Kapurthala (123), Hoshiarpur (121), Ferozepur (111), and Sangrur (107).
