Anandpur Sahib, Punjab (July 22, 2013): Heavy rainfall in the hills of Himachal Pardesh has begins to show it’s impact in Punjab. It has been reported by some media sections that the residents of 12 villages in the Anandpur Sahib sub-division of Rupnagar district were forced to begin evacuation after flooding as the water level of the Sutlej rose on July 20, 2013.
“The rise was caused by an increase in the water flow into the Swan rivulet, which enters the Sutlej near Anandpur Sahib, following heavy rain in Himachal Pradesh on Saturday. The rivulet carried more than 80,000 cusecs of water into the Sutlej, which normally carries 15,000 cusecs, leading to flooding of agricultural land at Laudhipur, Mataur, Burj, Nikkuwal, Ballowal, Hariwal, Badhal Lower and Mehandi Kalan villages” reads a news reported by YesPunjab.Com on July 21, 2013.
The water also reportedly entered houses in some villages, forcing villagers to start shifting their belongings to safer places. The gushing water also washed away the sand bags placed on the embankment of the river at Laudhipur village as a temporary measure to protect the residents from flood waters, while Burj village virtually became an island with water flowing all around it.
According to Hindustan Times (HT): “Laudhipur residents accused the district administration of failing to take effective preventive measures. Former sarpanch Sukhdev Singh and other residents alleged that they had repeatedly cautioned the administration about the possibility of floods, but to no avail”.
Rupnagar DC Pardeep Kumar Aggarwal said water had entered the fields only. “However, we have alerted the residents of these villages and would take steps to evacuate them, if needed,” he added.