Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann surveys a flood-hit city in Punjab
Chandigarh:
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann rescued a family stranded on the roof of their house in a flooded residential area in Hoshiarpur.
Mr Mann had been surveying the flood situation when he spotted the family, sitting on the roof of a submerged house.
Officials said the Chief Minister, who was on an inflatable boat, told the rescuers to row towards the family and let them sit on the boat.
“Floods have struck again in Punjab. I visited flood-affected areas in Hoshiarpur and spoke to the locals. The times are tough, but we will help everyone. The government will compensate the losses of the people,” Mr Mann tweeted.
ਪੰਜਾਬ ‘ਚ ਹੜ੍ਹਾਂ ਨੇ ਦੁਬਾਰਾ ਦਸਤਕ ਦਿੱਤੀ ਹੈ..ਪਰ ਮੈਂ ਹਰ ਰੋਜ਼ ਸਥਿਤੀ ਬਾਰੇ ਜਾਣੂ ਹੋ ਰਿਹਾ ਹਾਂ..ਅੱਜ ਹੁਸ਼ਿਆਰਪੁਰ ਦੇ ਹੜ੍ਹ ਪ੍ਰਭਾਵਿਤ ਇਲਾਕਿਆਂ ਦਾ ਗਰਾਊਂਡ ਜ਼ੀਰੋ ‘ਤੇ ਜਾ ਕੇ ਜਾਇਜ਼ਾ ਲਿਆ…ਸਥਾਨਕ ਲੋਕਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਗੱਲਬਾਤ ਕੀਤੀ ਤੇ ਹੌਂਸਲਾ ਹਿੰਮਤ ਬਰਕਰਾਰ ਰੱਖਣ ਦੀ ਅਪੀਲ ਕੀਤੀ…ਸਮਾਂ ਔਖਾ ਜ਼ਰੂਰ ਹੈ ਪਰ ਇੱਕ ਦੂਜੇ ਦੇ ਸਾਥ ਨਾਲ ਲੰਘ… pic.twitter.com/SGh09b1LbR
— Bhagwant Mann (@BhagwantMann) August 17, 2023
Several teams of the National Disaster Response Force, the army and the Border Security Force have been pressed into service for rescue operations in flood-hit areas of Punjab’s Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur and Rupnagar districts.
Large parts of these three districts have been flooded following the release of excess water from the Bhakra and the Pong dams, officials said.
The water level in the Beas and Sutlej rivers rose following the release of water from reservoirs.
The Bhakra dam on the Sutlej river and the Pong dam on the Beas river — both in Himachal Pradesh — are seeing high water level after heavy rain in their catchment areas.
Several people in low-lying regions and villages on the banks of the rivers in Punjab were evacuated to safety. The district administrations also asked the people in the flood-hit areas to move to safer locations.