Haryana, July 13: Fresh breaches erupted in the Ghaggar river which submerged scores of villages in Punjab.Thus Farmers in Punjab are being blamed by the Haryana government for diverting flood water from the Ghaggar river into the dry Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal leading to flooding in some districts.For this reason Haryana government wants joint police patrolling of canals and rivers in both states.Sirsa district in Haryana remained on the edge as overflowing water from the Ghaggar river inundated 14,000 acres of land in nearly a dozen villages Monday.
“The district administration has taken all necessary steps to prevent flood water from entering the populated area of any village of Sirsa district. The affected villages include Farwai Kalan, Neza Dela, Mallewala, Panihari, Burjkarmgarh and Musahibwala,” said Prahlad Singh Gillakhera, Haryana’s chief parliamentary secretary.
“The water level in the Ghaggar is continuously increasing and currently 25,000 cusecs of water is flowing in it. High alert has been sounded in the nearby areas. This problem is because the river was breached near Jhanda Khurd village in Punjab yesterday (Sunday) morning.”Large swathes of agriculture land were inundated and nearly a dozen villages submerged in flood waters in Haryana’s Sirsa and Fatehabad districts due to breaches in the Ghaggar river, officials said Tuesday. However, flood waters have begun receding in Punjab.
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is expected to visit the flood-affected areas of Sirsa and Fatehabad Tuesday to assess the situation.
Haryana’s Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal and Fatehabad districts have beem inundated for last few days. However, the officials maintain that the situation was gradually improving.
Fresh Breaches
Both states have blamed each other for last week’s flooding in certain districts following heavy rainfall in the region.
Two fresh breaches in the Ghaggar river and one in the Narwana canal in different parts of Punjab submerged scores of villages and inundated several acres of agricultural land in the state’s Mansa district, an official said.
‘Two new breaches have surfaced in the Ghaggar river near Makroad and Chandu and one breach has occurred in the Narwana canal. So far, the floods have affected 2.5 lakh acres of farm land, disturbing the lives of over 3 lakh people of 763 villages of Punjab,’ the state government spokesperson spokesman said.
Chief Engineer (Irrigation) Amarjit Singh Dullat told : ‘Due to fresh breaches many villages have been submerged in water. Our officials our trying to fill this breach but they are facing difficulties due to the heavy flow of water.’
Punjab CM visits flood hit areas
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who visited some flood-hit villages Sunday, approved the contingency plans for flood-hit farmers.
‘Out of the flood-hit 2.5 lakh acres of farmland, situation of crops in 1.5 lakh acres is grave. As per initial estimates, total crop loss to the farmers could be around Rs.480 crores,’ he said.
Badal suggested that agriculture department advise farmers to sow short maturity paddy varieties.
‘RH10 hybrid variety gets matured in 110 days, Sugandh 2 and 3 take 120 to 125 days, whereas PUSA 44, which is normal sown by the farmers, takes 145-150 days for maturing. To save time, the possibility of direct plantation of paddy will be explored,’ he said.
One more person was killed in Sangrur district late Saturday due to heavy floods. This took the death toll in Punjab in this week’s flooding to 22. So far, 33 people have lost their lives in flood-affected areas in Punjab and Haryana.
Badal also appealed the central government to provide liberal aid to the state’s farmers so that they can re-sow their crops to fulfill the national target of paddy production. He also announced enhanced compensation to flood-hit farmers.
Nearly 400,000 acres of agricultural land, 2,000 villages and a few towns in nearly 10 districts in each state have been affected in the flood.
Rains which lashed many parts of Punjab and Haryana have caused fresh breaches in river Ghaggar even as the two neighbouring states battled flood fury, which has claimed 33 lives so far and damaged standing crops. The two states have suffered an estimated loss of nearly Rs 1,400 crore.
Advisor to Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda R.N. Prashar said cuts in the SYL canal could be prevented by joint police patrolling.
Prashar, who visited SYL canal areas in the two states Sunday accompanied by senior officers of the irrigation department, said cuts in the SYL canal were made by the farmers of Punjab, causing flooding in Haryana.
“Senior officers of Punjab had already been intimated about this problem and they had assured cooperation in this matter. The Haryana government is making all out efforts to resolve this matter amicably,” he said.
He added that it was an inter-state matter and could take some time to resolve.
Irrigation and state government officials in Punjab have not responded to the joint patrolling suggestion made by Haryana.
Rescue work on in Punjab and Haryana
“The flood situation in the affected districts is improving. We have directed all deputy commissioners in the state to take all precautionary measures as heavy rain is expected at isolated places in Haryana till morning of July 14,” said Naresh Gulati, Haryana financial commissioner and principal secretary (Disaster Management).
“Rescue work is on and all major breaches in rivers and canals have been plugged. So far, 11 people have lost their lives in floods in Haryana,” stated Gulati.
In the neighbouring Punjab, rescue work was on in flood-hit areas.
“Due to breaches in Ghaggar river and heavy flow of water, various villages submerged in Mansa (in Punjab). Hundreds of acres of agricultural land has been inundated. The threat of flood is still looming over many nearby villages. We requisitioned army for help,” Mansa Deputy Commissioner Kumar Rahul told .
“Army personnel are working along with the district administration. We hope that the breaches will be plugged in at the earliest,” he said.
The army was also requisitioned in Haryana’s Fatehabad district where at least 30 villages were flooded due to breaches in the Ghaggar river.
“Water is flowing at very fast speed and nearly 30 villages are affected due to this. We are providing packed food, water and medicines to the victims,” said a Fatehabad district official.
Punjab irrigation officials said water was overflowing at alarming levels from rivers and canals.
“We are monitoring the flood situation very closely. There is a mixed response. In some parts water level is receding but it is overflowing at alarming levels at other places. Right now, we cannot say that the situation is totally under control. Work is on to plug the fresh breaches,” Punjab Chief Engineer (Irrigation) Amarjit Singh Dullat told .
Hundreds of villages in Patiala, Ludhiana, Fathegarh Sahib, Mohali and Sangrur districts were affected in last week’s flooding.
“Water level has started receding in various parts of Patiala but at some places the situation is grim. There has been extensive damage to property. Standing crops on at least 1 lakh hectares have been destroyed in the district,” Patiala Deputy Commissioner Dipinder Singh said.
—Agencies