Yamuna waters flood 30 Haryana villages

CHANDIGARH - Two major highways were under water and over 30 villages in Haryana’s Yamunanagar district inundated as the Yamuna river overflowed its banks, officials said Thursday.

Traffic had to be diverted from the Ambala-Saharanpur National Highway Number 73 and Chharauli-Paonta Sahib National Highway Number 73-A because of the floodwaters.

Agricultural land was inundated in the district’s villages like Khiljrabad, Khijri, Ledilada and Jalana.

Officials in Yamunanagar, about 250 km from Delhi, said over 600,000 cusecs of water had been released Wednesday through the Hathnikund barrage in Yamunanagar district into the Yamuna leading to the flooding. This was the highest inflow of water released towards Delhi in recent weeks, raising fears of a flood in the national capital.

Ashok Sanghwan, deputy commissioner of Yamunanagar, told IANS: “Our rescue and safety work is on and we have also told the army to remain on standby. Many flood victims have been shifted to safer locations and we have made all arrangements to tackle any kind of emergency.”

“However, we have observed that the water level of the Yamuna, which was in spate yesterday, has started receding.”

The Yamunanagar district administration has urged people to keep children away from the river and panchayats have been asked to remain in touch with the authorities.

Administrations in other districts like Ambala, Karnal, Kurukshetra and Sonepat have also been put on alert by the state government. Due to heavy rainfall in Himachal Pradesh and in various parts of Haryana over the last couple of days, there has been heavy inflow of water in the Yamuna, Som, Pathrala, Markanda, Tangri, Ghaggar and Roon rivers.

Floodwaters have entered some low-lying villages in Ambala district.

“There has been a sudden rise in the water level of Markanda and Tangri rivers. Though water has also entered some low-lying villages, the overall situation is under our control. We have also alerted the army and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to help in case of any emergency,” S.P. Srow, deputy commissioner of Ambala, told IANS.