Punjab: Villages submerged, threat of flood in Ajnala city
Punjab: The flood crisis in Punjab’s Amritsar district has worsened. Ten more villages in Ajnala and Lopoke sub-divisions have been inundated in the last 24 hours and water is now entering low-lying areas of Ajnala town. More than 50 villages have been inundated since the ‘dhussi dam’ (earthen embankment) at Ramdas on the overflowing Ravi river breached on Wednesday. The district administration has so far evacuated around 1,000 people, some of whom were rescued by air. Army and police personnel distributed food packets among the affected residents of villages in the Ramdas area, including Gonewal, Machhiwal, Shehzada, Jatta, Pasia, Talibpur, Nishok, Singoke, Ghaggar, Nangal Sohal and Abbadi Chandigarh. Rescue teams faced resistance in some areas as some villagers refused to leave their water-logged houses and preferred to stay on their rooftops.
The lack of rescue teams also came to the fore as many villagers alleged that they had been waiting for two days to be evacuated. Ranjit Kumar of Mandirawala village near Ramdas managed to escape with his family when the water receded a little. Ranjit said, “We waited for help for 50 hours, but to no avail. The walls of our house developed cracks and we had to evacuate ourselves. We will stay with our relatives in Amritsar till the situation improves.” Jasbir Singh of Hardorawal village in Fatehgarh Churian (Gurdaspur) said the water flow had increased considerably in the last 24 hours. “The floods are reminiscent of the 1988 devastation. Our village is now submerged in 10 feet of water,” he said. A government official said several villages in Fatehgarh Churian were inundated after a breach developed in the Kalanaur canal. Administrative Secretary Kamal Kishore Yadav and Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sahni monitored the relief and rescue operations in Ramdas and Ajnala. Sahni said 45,000 drinking water bottles and over 17,000 food packets were distributed, besides 100 quintals of dry fodder and 850 bags (50 kg each) of cattle feed.
