Punjab, Himachal reel under rain fury, floods

INCESSANT rainfall over the past few days has thrown life out of gear in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, with swollen rivers, flooded villages, road blockades and widespread disruptions prompting authorities to issue high alerts and shut schools across several districts.

- HARPREET BAJWA @Chandigarh

In Punjab, heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers, coupled with surplus water released from the Pong, Bhakra and Ranjit Sagar dams, has inundated farmlands and villages across six districts—Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Ferozepur and Fazilka. The Ravi, in particular, has become a major concern in Gurdaspur, where inflows at Makora Pattan touched 2.50 lakh cusecs on Monday morning.

At Harike, where the Beas and Sutlej meet, the water level was 2.34 lakh cusecs, flooding thousands of acres of crops downstream in Tarn Taran, Ferozepur and Fazilka.