Punjab: Floodwater starts receding in Sangrur’s Moonak

Four days after a raging Ghaggar submerged vast swaths of land in Sangrur’s Moonak sub-division, the floodwaters have started receding in several places, officials said. However, the officials said that many areas are still up to 10 feet underwater.

According to the officials, the floods affected nearly 94,000 residents in 27 villages and two cities. In Khanauri, the water had reached a height of 12 feet and has now receded to 10 feet. In other parts of the subdivision, many areas are still submerged in 5 feet of water.

The water level in Ghaggar, which was flowing at 754.2 feet on Friday, has also come down by at least two feet. On Saturday, Ghaggar was flowing at 752.6 feet.

Besides throwing normal life out of gear, the flood water damaged National Highway 52, leading to a shortage of essentials in many areas. The NH52 passes through Sangrur and Pattran in Punjab and suffered heavy damage during flooding.

As per officials, as many as 500 trucks are stuck at NH 52 near Khanauri. “As many as 500 trucks, loaded with essentials, are stuck at both sides of NH 52 in Khanauri after the road was blocked due to a flood last Wednesday. There was also a cave-in on Friday, which further aggravated the situation.

Road links snapped

The road link to Sangrur, Patiala and cities in Haryana was snapped while many roads which connect Moonak to Patran, Sangrur and Lehra are either blocked due to floods or have been dug out by locals to make way for the flood water.

Sangrur deputy commissioner Jitendra Jorwal hoped that the highway would be open by Sunday. “The floodwater has started receding and hopefully traffic may begin on roads by tomorrow,” he said.

The snapping of road links has disrupted the supply chain of essential commodities, affecting people in areas which were not inundated.

There were reports that many shops have run out of essentials and even fuel stations are running out of petrol and diesel. Kehar Singh, who sells vegetables, said, “I have closed my shop as I do not have any vegetables to sell. Earlier, we used to get supply from the vegetable market of Tohana, but the road is blocked.”

Nishan Singh, who works at a fuel station in Moonak, said, “It has been four days since we last got the supply of fuel. Now we are two days’ supply left.”

Meanwhile, many government banks have also stopped working as the office staff is finding it difficult to reach the office due to floodwater.

Sangrur DC, however, said that the administration has enough stock of food and essentials and no one should hesitate from asking for help.

“The district administration has enough stock of food and anyone can contact us whether they are from flood-affected areas or not,” the DC added.

Cheema, Arora tour flood-affected areas

Sangrur: Cabinet ministers Harpal Singh Cheema and Aman Arora visited the flood-affected areas of Moonak on Saturday and took stock of the relief works being carried out. They were also accompanied by MLA Barinder Goyal.

The ministers visited Lord Shiva School, Hamirgarh, where district administration has set up a command and coordination centre. Cheema said the district administration has created zones to deliver help through boats. The ministers also held a review meeting with the administrative officers. Fourteen districts – Patiala, Moga, Ludhiana, Mohali, Jalandhar, Sangrur, Pathankot, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Fatehgarh Sahib, Faridkot, Hoshiarpur, Rupnagar and SBS Nagar – have been affected by floods in Punjab.