Punjab floods: Bhakra dam one feet short of max capacity, Rupnagar admin issues alert

Chandigarh: With the Bhakra dam around one foot short of its maximum capacity of 1,680 feet, the Rupnagar administration on Thursday issued an alert, urging people near the Sutlej river to move to safer places.

The water level in the Bhakra dam rose to 1,678.97 feet on Thursday morning, compared to its maximum capacity of 1,680 feet, following rainfall in its catchment areas.

The water inflow in the dam was 95,435 cusecs, while the outflow was 73,459 cusecs.

The water level in the Pong dam, on the Beas river, touched 1,394.51 feet, four feet above its upper limit capacity of 1,390 feet.

The water inflow in the dam was 1,32,595 cusecs, while the outflow was 91,167 cusecs.

Rupnagar Deputy Commissioner Varjeet Singh Walia urged people residing in low-lying areas near the Sutlej river in several villages of Nangal and Anandpur Sahib to move to safer places or go to relief camps set up by the district administration.

He further said teams of the National Disaster Response Force and other agencies have been deployed to deal with any emergency situation.

The DC said the water level in the Bhakra dam has reached 1,679 feet, while the water discharge is about 75,000 cusecs. It may be increased to 80,000 to 85,000 cusecs.

On Wednesday, Cabinet Minister Harjot Bains appealed to Sri Anandpur Sahib residents living on riverbanks and in low-lying areas to shift to safer places or relief camps.

He visited over two dozen villages affected by floods and personally oversaw the evacuation of families stranded along the Sutlej River.

Meanwhile, the Patiala district administration also issued an alert for the residents of villages near the Ghaggar River in Patran, in the wake of heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of the water body.

Punjab is currently facing one of its worst flood disasters in decades. The floods are a result of swollen rivers, the Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi, along with seasonal rivulets caused by heavy rainfall in their catchment areas in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

Additional heavy rains in Punjab have intensified the flooding situation, aggravating the challenges faced by residents.

The deluge has claimed 37 lives so far and impacted over 3.55 lakh people. Crops on more than 1.75 lakh hectares of land have perished in the floods, officials stated.