Beas in spate: Kapurthala admn starts moving people to safer grounds
However, with reports of high rainfall and cloudbursts in the catchment areas, including Kangra, Mandi and Kullu districts of Himachal Pradesh, the water level is expected to rise in both the dam reservoir and Beas river, to which both Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala districts have kept close watch.
With the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) continuing to release water from the Pong Dam reservoir through spillway gates, there is no respite in the flood-hit villages situated downstream in Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala districts due to the swollen Beas river.
The water flow in Beas was recorded at 1.25 lakh cusecs, more than Wednesday’s 1.22 lakh cusecs. It was 1.05 lakh cusecs on Thursday.
Meanwhile, compared to 1,377.50 feet on Wednesday, the water level in the Pong Dam reservoir came down to 1,377.22 feet by Thursday evening.
The BBMB released 57,031 cusecs of water, including 39,238 through spillways gates and 17, 793 through turbines on Thursday.
However, with reports of high rainfall and cloudbursts in the catchment areas, including Kangra, Mandi and Kullu districts of Himachal Pradesh, the water level is expected to rise in both the dam reservoir and Beas river, to which both Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala districts have kept close watch.
As many as 35 villages situated in the mand area of both the districts have been severely affected due to floods in the Beas river for the past four days. Taking note of increasing water level in the Beas river, Kapurthala administration has initiated evacuation process in its 20 affected villages in order to deal with any sort of exigency. The teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed for the rescue operation in these villages.
However, people are adamant not to leave their houses and allowing only children and female members to move to safer places.
Gurmail Singh, a resident of Baupur Jadid village, one of the most affected villages of Kapurthala district, said this is the second time in the past two years that they have been forced to leave their houses due to floods.
“In 2023, we faced a similar situation. This time too, we have left with no option than to move our family members to safer locations, besides moving our livestock out of the marooned area,” he said.
Manjinder Singh of Rampur village said the administration should have alerted the people living in the mand areas before releasing the water from the dam.
“No such warning was given. The villagers came to know about increasing water only after the gushing water of Beas river dismantled temporary bundhs,” he said.
The villagers in the affected areas demanded the state authorities to release water through Harike Pattan Barrage in order to give some respite to people residing in the Mand areas of Doaba.
Kapurthala deputy commissioner Amit Kumar Panchal said they are only hoping weather conditions to improve as the situation is alarming but completely under control as of now.
“In response to rising water levels in the Beas river, a relief centre has been established in Government School, Lakh Varhian, in the Mand area to support affected residents. We are providing essential supplies, including dry ration and drinking water, besides arranging fodder for the livestock in the affected areas,” he said.
He added that they are trying to evacuate as many as people from the affected areas.
Meanwhile, people in Hoshiarpur’s Rara, Miani, Tahli and Abdullapur in Tanda and Motla, Mehtabpur, Sanyal, Naushehra and several other villages in Mukerian sub-division are worried as the meteorological department has warned of more rains in the catchment areas in the coming days.
Hoshiarpur deputy commissioner Aashika Jain and senior superintendent of police Sandeep Malik visited these vulnerable areas on Thursday.
“People were particularly worried about dhussi bundhs, which are susceptible to damage in case of heavy rains or dam discharge. The drainage department was keeping a close eye on it,” said Jain, while urging people living in ‘most vulnerable areas’ to shift to safer places.
“The administration has been completely equipped with SoP required for evacuation in case of floods,” said Jain.
Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha MP Balbir Singh Seechewal, who remained instrumental in plugging the breach during floods in 2023 in Jalandhar and Kapurthala, also held meetings with officials of Kapurthala district over rescue operations.
Sultanpur Lodhi MLA demands release of water from Harike
Highlighting the situation at Harike, Sultanpur Lodhi MLA Rana Inder Partap Singh stated that while the inflow in Harike was around 13 lakh cusecs, only three lakh cusecs have been released downstream, with 2.5 lakh cusecs diverted into the river.
“This means over 7 lakh cusecs are being held back. There must be controlled and strategic releases from Harike to avoid a catastrophic overflow that could submerge entire areas upstream and lead to massive losses of crops, property, and lives,” he said.
He added that he had informed the irrigation minister, the department secretary and chief engineers about the dire situation, but no concrete action has been taken yet.
Flood-like situation at Harike headworks
Over the past few days, the release of water from Pong Dam into the Beas river has caused the water level at Harike Headworks to rise above 100,000 cusecs, according to the information shared by the government sources.
As per the regulation department of Harike headworks, the rising water level since this morning crossed 100,000 cusecs by 6 pm on Thursday. At 6 pm the upstream inflow at Harike Headworks was 1,01,000 cusecs, out of which 78,000 cusecs were being released downstream, 8,000 cusecs into the Ferozepur Feeder Canal, and 13,800 cusecs into the Rajasthan Feeder.
The inflow of water into the Beas river has already submerged thousands of acres of crops in many villages of Tarn Taran district. The release of water downstream from Harike headworks has also inundated thousands of acres of crops in dozens of villages in Tarn Taran and Ferozepur districts, with floodwaters filling fields up to 10 feet deep.
A wide breach occurred in the canal that passes through Rayya town of Amritsar district due to rise of water level in it. This breach caused devastation in the fields of the nearby area. The authorities, including deputy commissioner Sakshi Sawhney, deputed teams to fill the breach with the help of the local people which was filled in the evening.
With inputs from Surjit Singh
