Punjab On High Alert: Sutlej, Ravi & Beas Rivers In Spate, Flood Several Areas - VIDEO

Chandigarh: Keeping in view the incessant rains in the neighbouring Himachal Pradesh that has caused the Sutlet, Ravi and Beas rivers as well as numerous seasonal rivulets, to swell, the Punjab government on Tuesday issued a high alert in the state.

Likewise, the deputy commissioners of the eight districts, namely Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur and Fazilka have also been asked to stay prepared for any emergencies in the wake of overflowing rivers, which had already inundated a score of low-lying villages and farm lands in the Hoshiarpur, Pathankot and Fazilka districts. The flooding had already caused massive damage to the crops in the areas along the said rivers.

The continuous heavy rains in the catchment areas of the three rivers, besides the release of surplus water from the Pong and Bhakra dams, have also added to the woes of the people living along the rivers or the low-lying areas in the state.

The social security, women and child development minister Baljit Kaur who visited the Fazilka district also appealed to the residents living along the Sutlej to shift women, children and the elderly people to safer places without any further loss of time.

The state government has also set up a central flood control centre in Jalandhar for a round-the-clock vigil on the situation and coordinated the rescue and relief operations roping in the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the state Disaster Response Force (NDRF). Likewise, relief camps have also been set up in several parts of the said districts with teams from health, animal husbandry and other departments.

SCHOOLS CLOSED TILL AUG 30

Meanwhile, chief minister Bhagwant Mann took to X to announce the schools closure till August 30. He said that due to continuous heavy rainfall over the last few days and the forecast of more heavy rains in the coming days, all the government schools and private primary, secondary and senior secondary schools in the state will remain closed from August 27 to August 30.