Flood situation grim in U.P. (The Hindu 25 August 2011)

The monsoon held sway over large parts of North India on Wednesday and the flood situation in Uttar Pradesh remained grim with major rivers flowing above the danger mark at many places.
“The south-west monsoon has been vigorous in Haryana and active in east Rajasthan and west Uttar Pradesh,” said the weatherman. The flood situation remained grim in UP affecting 25 districts as major rivers flowed above the danger mark at a number of places across the State.
According to a Central Water Commission report, the Ganga, Ghagara, Yamuna and Sharda had swelled due to release of excess water from dams.
According to a report released by the Relief Commissioner's office, 2,256 villages with a population of 16.4 lakh had been affected due to floods in 25 districts.
Moderate to heavy rain lashed several parts of Punjab and Haryana causing some rivers in these States to overflow.
Several rivers including the Yamuna, Som, Tangri, Ghaggar, Beas, Sutlej and Ravi were in spate with villages close to their banks facing a flood-like situation.
Narnaul was drenched by 79 mm of rain while Bhiwani received 48.4 mm of rain, Ambala 40.3 mm and Karnal 19.6 mm.
Heavy showers lashed several parts of Rajasthan with Dabok recording a maximum of 42.1 mm rainfall till the evening.
Churu, Bikaner, Chittorgarh, Ajmer and Jaipur recorded 11, 8.2, 8, 7.5 and 0.2 mm rainfall respectively.
In Uttarakhand, the pilgrimage to Himalayan shrines of Badrinath and Gangotri remained suspended following fresh landslides triggered by heavy rain at several places on national highways.
Haridwar received 70 mm of rain followed by Dehra Dun (46 mm) amd Mussoorie (40 mm).
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister P. K. Dhumal told the Vidhan Sabha that 30 people had been killed and crops and property had suffered losses amounting to Rs.334 crore during the current monsoon season in the State.
Paddy crop damaged
Paddy grown over 30,000 acres of land has been damaged in Punjab after heavy rain caused excess water discharge into the Beas and Satluj rivers and flooded several villages.
“As per our latest reports... crops like paddy, maize grown over 60,000 acres of land got submerged under water due to recent flooding of several villages downstream in the state (Punjab). Out of which, paddy in more than 30,000 acres of land has got damaged,” a senior officer of the Punjab Agriculture Department said on Wednesday.
Fields in Punjab, the State known as the food bowl of the country, were flooded at various places, including Tarn Taran, Ropar, Ferozepur, Kapurthala and Jalandhar, due to discharge of excess water into the Beas and Satluj from Pong and Bhakra dam.
Due to heavy rain in catchment areas, the water level in Pong and Bhakra dams rose quickly, forcing the authorities to release water to maintain optimum capacity.
According to reports, the flooding caused maximum damage to paddy crop in Kapurthala, sown over 30,000 acres of land.