In Punjab, incessant rain, rising water levels in Beas, Satluj, Raavi and Ghaggar rivers, and controlled release of excess water from Bhakhra, Pong and Ranjit Sagar dams are keeping the border state on high alert. The floods have affected 1650 villages in all its 23 districts and have submerged over 1.75 lakh acres of farmland, causing massive damage to paddy and other crops.
Severely affected districts are Gurdaspur with 1.45 lakh persons hit, followed by Amritsar with over 1.17 lakh people, Ferozepur with 39,076 and Fazilka with more than 21,500 persons who have been impacted the most. These worst floods in decades have also taken away 37 lives, and 3 are still missing.
Rescue and relief operations by the Indian Army, Air Force, BSF, NDRF and NGOs are on a war footing. A ray of hope has been shown by the Chandigarh-based Indian Met Department as its Director, Surender Pal, has predicted a significant decrease in the rainfall in Punjab from today till Sept 8th. However, light to moderate rain has not been ruled out.
The swollen Satluj has impacted villages of Patiala and Jalandhar also besides those already inundated in other districts. Due to the prevailing situation, the state government has ordered the closure of all educational institutions until September 7th.
