Chandigarh: Attributing heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh for floods in Punjab, state Water Resources Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer on Thursday held a review meeting with officials of the department to take stock of the flood situation in several districts and directed them to speed up the ongoing rescue and relief work.
According to Meet Hayer, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is monitoring the flood situation closely and receiving regular updates from the relevant authorities.
The Chief Minister has ordered his department to quickly address the water shortage by closely monitoring dam levels, river flows, and canal levels.
Krishan Kumar, the Principal Secretary for Water Resources, gave a report on the current condition and the specifics of the ongoing works during the meeting.
The minister has stated that the heavy downpours that occurred on July 9 and 10 are responsible for the current scenario in many regions of Punjab. He went into detail, saying that whereas July typically sees an average of 288 millimetres (mm) of rain in Ropar, 377 millimetres (mm) of rain fell in just two days this time around. Similarly, the normal amount of rainfall for the month of July in Mohali is 208.6 mm, but this year, 266 mm fell in just two days.
“If we talk about the whole of Punjab, the state used to receive 161.4 mm of rain in July and this time, 83.4 mm of rain was received in two days. The rains in Himachal Pradesh are also the main reason behind the excess water in the rivers of Punjab. Himachal Pradesh receives an average of 255.9 mm of rainfall in July, while 195.8 mm of rain fell on July 9 and 10,” the minister said.
According to Meet Hayer, the Bhakra Dam's water level is 1,648.12 feet on July 20. This is lower than the dam's capacity of 1,680 feet. Ranjit Sagar Dam is at 1,721.4 feet with a capacity of 1,731.99 feet, whereas Pong Dam is at 1,374 feet with a capacity of 1,390 feet.
He reported that the water level in Bhakra Dam had risen by 41.46 feet, Pong Dam by 35.13 feet, and Ranjit Sagar Dam by 33.9 feet in the last 11 days, from July 9 to July 20.
This season, he said, the flood gates were not opened even once from the Bhakra Dam. A maximum of 35,000 cusecs of water is released through the turbines which is required and essential for power generation.—Inputs from Agencies