Chandigarh: Even as the flood situation remained grim in many parts of Punjab, at least 1,000 more persons were rescued from Hoshiarpur, Ropar and Gurdaspur on Thursday.
It may be recalled that over 2,500 people were rescued from different parts of Punjab on Wednesday. However, a large number of villages in several districts including Ropar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran - were still inundated due to the release of excess water from Bhakra and Pong dams which were brimming after the heavy inflow of water due to heavy rains in their respective catchment areas in the bordering Himachal Pradesh, downstream Punjab.
According to reports, while over 500 people were rescued from Gurdaspur and 300 from Kapurthala, many were rescued from Ropar, Hoshiarpur, Amritsar and Tarn Taran by the state agencies as well as several teams of National Disaster Response Force and Army which had stepped up the rescue work.
Meanwhile, the Gurdaspur district administration had announced holidays in government and private schools in the affected areas till the further orders, the Ropar district administration had declared holiday in schools and anganwadi centres till Friday.
CM Takes Tour Of Affected Areas
Meanwhile, chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday toured the flood affected areas of Hoshiarpur district in a boat to take stock of the situation at the ground level with NDRF officials in and around Rara, Fateh Kulla and Haler villages.
Interacting with the media persons later, Mann said that the government machinery including the helicopter of state government was at disposal of people in this hour of crisis. He said that though no rain had taken place in the state but due to heavy downpour in hilly states, flood had been caused in these areas.
He said that the havoc had been caused in the district due to the release of excess water from Pong Dam. Stating that though Pong dam was above the danger mark by six feet but still there was nothing to worry as in past it has been above 10 feet then the danger level. He held that the water was being released in a controlled manner from the dam for the safety of people.
Likewise, Mann said, the water at Bhakra Dam was below the danger mark. He said that every effort is being made to bail out the people in this hour of crisis. The chief minister further held that there was no need for people to panic as the state government was there to bail out the people and asked the officers to share the information regarding water level regularly with people to avoid any confusion.
