Chandigarh: Seven districts of Punjab are reeling under floods following the continuous release of water from dams and heavy rainfall. On Wednesday evening, the flood gate of Madhopur headworks in Pathankot collapsed due to the overflow of the Ravi river, leaving 50 people stranded.
Army helicopters were called in to carry out rescue operations, while one employee of the headworks has gone missing.
Around 400 students and teachers were stuck at a Navodaya Vidyalaya in Gurdaspur after a sudden rise in water levels. A breach in a canal near the Pathankot-Jammu highway caused water to overflow onto the road, severely affecting traffic. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s native village Satauj in Sangrur has also been inundated.
CM Mann visited the flood-affected areas of Pathankot and Gurdaspur on Wednesday. He left his helicopter behind for rescue work and returned by car. The Punjab government has canceled the leaves of employees and officers in affected districts, set up control rooms across all 23 districts, and ordered the closure of schools until August 30.
More than 150 villages in Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Ferozepur and Fazilka remain submerged as the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej rivers continue to swell. NDRF, SDRF and Army teams are conducting large-scale rescue operations. Across the border, the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor and Gurdwara complex in Pakistan have also been flooded.
Meanwhile, Northern Railway has canceled 45 trains and short-terminated over 25 others due to worsening conditions in the Jammu region. Helplines have been activated at Jammu Tawi, Vaishno Devi Katra, Pathankot and Delhi railway stations.
The Chandigarh Meteorological Centre has issued a red alert for Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Barnala, Sangrur and Mansa districts.
