Monsoon fury: Low-lying areas in districts of Haryana struggle with waterlogging
Ravinder Saini
Jhajjar, July 11
Waterlogging continued to haunt residents of low-lying areas of different districts, especially Ambala, Karnal, Kurukshetra and Yamunanagar, for the third consecutive day today. Four deaths were reported in Ambala in two days. A motorist, identified as Sanju of Mullana, drowned on the Mullana-Alipur road, while a 62-year old woman was found dead on the waterlogged ground floor of her house in the Mahesh Nagar area.
Suresh Dhiman, a resident of Shahzadpur, reportedly died in waterlogging after his bike slipped in Ambala Cantonment. A youth, who was yet to be identified, was found dead in his car on the NH-152, which was lying closed for three days.
Flood-like situation remained in Ambala district due to the overflow of water in the Ghaggar, Markanda, SYL, Narwana branch and Tangri rivers. Not only agricultural fields, but many residential colonies witnessed 4 to 5 feet water accumulaion. The vehicular traffic on the Ambala-Ludhiana and Ambala-Chandigarh highways was restored. However, the Ambala-Hisar highway remained closed.
No fresh rains in the affected districts brought some relief to the authorities, but the water level in the Yamuna at the Hathnikund barrage in Yamunanagar continued to rise. It recorded 3,59,000 cusecs on Tuesday morning.
AMBALA: Four teams of the NDRF and two columns of the Army continued to carry out rescue and relief operations in the flood-affected areas in the district. Though the water receded to some extent, it was still accumulated up to some feet in agricultural land as well as many residential areas.
An official said the only relief so far was that there was no fresh rain, and there was no alert regarding fresh water being released in the rivers. The situation would improve gradually if there was no fresh release of water.
Breaches occurred in the Ghaggar at Ghel village, in SYL and in the Narwana branch at Ismailpur village.
As per the information, efforts were made to plug the breach last evening but due to the heavy flow of water, the breach couldn’t be plugged and in the morning, the water in the agricultural fields and the canal were at the same level, making the authorities to wait for the water level to recede.
An official said “The restoration of power and water supply were another challenge for the administration as operations were stopped at several power houses due to waterlogging.”
Superintending Engineer UHBVN KS Bhoria said, “Water entered the power houses, at Sadopur, Industrial area, and some other locations. All efforts are being made to provide power supply through alternative arrangements.” Meanwhile, residents expressed unhappiness with the pumps not working properly.
KARNAL: With the Yamuna overflowing, the situation remains grim in over 20 nearby villages. High flow of water inundated crops like paddy, maize, sugarcane, vegetables on over 20,000 acres of land, causing loss to the farmers. All link roads are still under 3 to 4 feet of water, disconnecting link in villages. A large number of people were stranded in different villages, who were rescued by officials with the help of boats.
A high current of water created a breach of around 200 feet on the bundh near Gadhpur Tapu village on Monday evening, but it could not be plugged till Tuesday evening. Efforts are being made by the authorities with the help of the Army officials, but high current and depth were a major challenge to the administration.
KURUKSHETRA: Several residential colonies and villages remained submerged and the water started reaching the national highway in Shahabad. Due to waterlogging, traffic on the Patiala-Pehowa road was stopped. Water was overflowing in the Markanda and Saraswati.
DC Kurukshetra Shantanu Sharma said all efforts were being made to plug the breaches and provide relief to the residents.
PANIPAT: A wide breach in thr Yamuna embankment occurred at Nawada Aar village in the district, which flooded the standing crops in around seven villages, including Sanoli, Garhi besak, Nawada Aar, Nawada Par, Pathargarh, Tamsabad and Rana Majra.
A bundh near Patthargarh village also broke following excessive inflow of water, leading to severing of several villages from the city. A large number of villagers were stranded, while standing crops, spread over hundreds of acres, got damaged. The district administration summoned the NDRF teams which rescued the villagers and cattle. A farmer Vikram of Goyla Khurd village was drowned in the Yamuna while he was trying to save his cattle. His body was taken out in the evening.
An Army team also reached the place and began rescue operations.
YAMUNANAGAR: Education Minister Kanwar Pal Gujjar visited the villages affected by the waters of Yamuna river, other seasonal rivulets and rain falling under the Jagadhri Assembly constituency on Tuesday. He visited Panjeto, Chhachhrauli, Sherpur, Urjani, Chuharpur, Bahadarpur, Mujafat, Tugalpur, Timho, Ledi, Lopyo, Hadauli, Salempur Khadar and other villages.
He spoke to the people of those villages and took stock of the situation. Bilaspur SDM Jaspal Singh Gill also visited several villages and at the Hathnikund barrage to take stock of the situation. All government and private schools of the district remained closed today also. Water receded from most of the urban areas, but hundreds of agriculture fields are still waterlogged in the district.
Pratap Nagar tehsil recorded 163 mm of rainfall between 8 am (July 10) and 8 am on (July 11), 136 mm of rainfall was recorded in Jagadhri tehsil, 95 mm rain in Saraswati Nagar tehsil, 92 mm rain in Chhachhrauli tehsil, 80 mm in Bilaspur tehsil, 50 mm in Sadhaura tehsil and 22 mm in Radaur tehsil.
Yamuna flow recorded at 3.59 Lakh cusecs at Hathnikund barrage
- The Yamuna water flow at the Hathnikund barrage was recorded at 3.59 L cusecs at 11 am on Tuesday. The flow had been measured at 35,836 cusecs at 8 am on July 9
- The water flow came down to 2,44,000 cusecs, when it was measured at the barrage at 6 pm, on Tuesday.
- As per authorities of the Irrigation and Water Resources Department, Yamunanagar, a flood-like situation is announced when the water flow reaches at 2.5 lakh cusecs at the barrage.
Vij inspects submerged streets in boat
- Home minister Anil Vij used a boat to wade through waterlogged streets. Later, he reached the Mahesh Nagar pump house where the pumps were not functioningand sat there till the pumps were restored
- The Ambala DC said: “Four teams of the NDRF, two columns of the Army, besides district officials have been working to rescue the stranded people. The breach couldn’t be plugged due to heavy flow
Hooda to visit flood-hit areas today
- Former CM and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda and state Congress chief Udai Bhan would visit the flood-affected areas of the state on Wednesday
- “No preparation was made by the government to deal with rain and people continue to suffer as the government’s response has been inadequate,” said the Congress
- Hooda appealed to the government that it should seek maximum help from the Centre for relief work and ensure that waterlogged areas were cleared at the earliest
384 civilians rescued in Ambala
The Army had evacuated 384 civilians during the rescue operations in Mahesh Nagar and Preet Nagar in Ambala Cantonment till 6 pm. The operation in industrial area was also on and a breach in Tangri river was plugged.
(With inputs from Nitish Sharma, Parveen Arora, Shiv Sharma & Mukesh Tandon)
