Meet Hayer visits Ghaggar River at Tiwana and Amalala villages

Water Resources Minister reviews rescue works at the spot

Derabassi: To access the ground level situation and monitor the rescue work at the Ghaggar river, the Water Resources Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer on Friday visited the Tiwana and Amalala villages.

Meet Hayer and Derabassi MLA Kuljit Singh Randhawa visited the Tiwana village to see the work of plugging the breaches in the river. They also took stock of the damage to the crops and also saw the damage to the bridge built on the Ghaggar River at Amalala village.

Meet Hayer said that this time due to continuous and heavy rainfall, the Ghaggar River has received record flow for the last several decades. At Bhankharpur, where the Ghaggar river enters Punjab, this time 970.4 feet of water came, which is the highest ever. Before this, there was 967.4 feet of water recorded in 2004. Along with the increase in water and overflow in the Ghaggar River, some breaches occurred in Mohali, Patiala and Sangrur districts.

Meet Hayer further said that while Rs. 33.50 Cr was immediately released from the disaster fund by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, another Rs. 71 Cr was also sanctioned. The state government will compensate the people for the loss. The representatives of the government and the administration are engaged in the service of the people day and night. He also thanked all the religious and social organizations involved in public service in this difficult time caused by this natural calamity.

The Water Resources Minister said that the department is working on a war footing with the help of local district administration, the Army and NDRF. Giving details of the ongoing works on the Ghaggar dams from village Dehar to Tiwana, he said that five Poclain machines, two tractor-trolleys, two tractors and 10 tippers are working. More than 10,000 empty bags have been filled in addition to the provision of 1.25 lakh bags. Rope nets are being woven to make crates. More than 250 workers are working. If any more goods or labourers are required, that help will be provided immediately. Similarly, two JCBs, one Poclain machine and two tractor trolleys are working on the repair of the Tangri river embankment.

SDM Himanshu Gupta, ASP Dr. Darpan Ahluwalia, and SE Water Resources Manoj Bansal were also present at the occasion.