Flood Situation Worsens in Haryana, Punjab: Scores of Villages Inundated (Indian Express 09 July 2010)

Flood situation in Punjab and Haryana has worsened further as many villages were inundated following fresh breaches in Hansi Butana canal in Kaithal and Ghaggar in Sangrur district even though army and other authorities tried to plug the breaches, said media reports.
Officials said that a 15 feet breach occurred in Hansi Butana canal in Haryana and flooded as many as 40 villages badly, reports said.
They further said that two breaches of about 50 to 60 feet were created due to gushing waters in Ghaggar river at Rasoli and Naiwala villages in Sangrur district of Punjab, inundating some other 50 villages, said reports.
With these fresh breaches, problems have been further compounded and army personnel called to plug these breaches at the earlier, reports said.
Official said that a 30 feet breach on road disrupted traffic on the Ambala-Hisar highway and army personnel are trying hard to restore traffic on the road, said reports.
In the meanwhile, PTI quoted a senior railway official as saying that the rail traffic had been restored on Ambala-Chandigarh railway line, reports said.
“Everything is under control…all train services have been restored in the region…few trains are cancelled due to late running of certain other trains,” Ambala’s Railway Commercial Manager GM Singh was quoted as saying.
According to reports, more than 200 villages in Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Sangrur, Patiala and Mohali district are flood-affected.
Reports from flood-hit areas of Kurukshetra and Ambala in Haryana and Ludhiana in Punjab said that the water levels had been receding at a snail pace, however, many places still remained submerged under around ten feet of water.
Army, district administration, social organisations and villagers are working hard to plug existing breaches in Satluj Yamuna Link in Kurukshetra district, three in Tangri river in Ambala district and two in Ghaggar in Sangrur district, said reports.
The Met office had predicted rainfall at isolated places in parts of Punjab and Haryana during the next few hours, reports said.
Haryana Pillokhera received 30 mm of rainfall followed 17 mm in Sadaura, 9 mm in Karnal, 4 mm in Jind and 2 mm in Sonepat.
Reports from Sonepat said that the Yamuna is flowing in its full furry and people living close to the banks of the river had been advised to shift to safer places.