Relief work stepped up in flood-affected areas of Punjab, Haryana

Relief work continued at a brisk pace on Thursday in the flood-affected areas of Punjab and Haryana where the rain fury has paralysed daily life in the worst-hit parts.

According to Haryana government figures, the death toll in rain-related incidents has gone up to 16. Earlier, 10 deaths had been reported in the state and 11 from neighbouring Punjab.

Authorities in the two states have stepped up relief operations as the weather improved over the past three days. Overall, 14 districts have been affected in Punjab and seven in Haryana.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also took stock of the situation in some of the affected areas.

Speaking to reporters in Patiala, the district hit hardest by the flood fury, Mann said the state will not beg for any financial assistance from the Centre but will send an estimate of the losses. He also accused the opposition parties in the state of indulging in politics over a natural calamity.

Meanwhile, amid the blame game over flow from the Hathnikund barrage increasing the water level in the Yamuna in Delhi, Haryana Education Minister Kanwar Pal on Thursday said not releasing the excess could have led to "bigger damage".

Roads turned into rivers and water gushed into houses, crematoriums and shelter homes, impairing daily life in the national capital, even as Yamuna's water level stabilised after reaching 208.62 metres on Thursday, smashing the all-time record set 45 years ago by a significant margin.

Officials said the water flow rate in the Hathnikund barrage on Thursday was 1.62 lakh cusecs at 10.00 am, nearly 1 lakh at 3.00 pm and 67,000 cusecs at 5.00 pm. The flow rate was significantly down from around 3.21 lakh cusecs that of Tuesday morning.

With the Delhi Traffic Police on Thursday issuing an advisory on the restrictions owing to the rising water level in the Yamuna, buses from Haryana Roadways depots, including Panipat and Sonipat, plied only till Singhu on the Haryana-Delhi border, officials said.

During his visit to the affected areas, Punjab Chief Minister Mann told reporters in Patiala's Patran that he is constantly monitoring the situation and has directed the officials to extend all possible help to the people.

Hitting back at the rival parties that targeted the AAP government for its alleged lack of planning and preparation, Mann said his current priority is to take care of the people who are in need, adding that he will give a befitting reply at an appropriate time.

Asked if Punjab has sought any flood relief package from the Centre, Mann said the losses are still being assessed. He said it is alright if the Centre helps the state, adding that Punjab is capable of managing on its own otherwise.

"We are yet to assess the losses," he said, adding, "If they (the Centre) have to give (any package), they may, but we are not going to beg," he said.

Considering the safety of students, the Punjab government on Thursday ordered all schools to remain shut till July 16. Earlier, it had announced holidays till Thursday.

More than 19,000 people have been shifted to safety from waterlogged localities in several of Punjab's affected districts while nearly 4,000 have been evacuated in neighbouring Haryana.

Meanwhile, in Punjab's Ferozepur district, a portion of a bridge over the Sutlej river at Hajara Singh Wala village collapsed on Thursday, snapping connectivity to more than 20 villages.

In Haryana's Ambala district, the water level in the Tangri near Ambala Cantonment increased on Thursday morning, prompting the administration to ask people living close to its banks to shift to safer places.

The body of an unidentified man was recovered from a railway underpass near Ambala City with officials saying he appeared to have drowned as the place was submerged.

In Punjab, AAP MP Vikramjit Singh Sahney visited flood hit areas in and around Rupnagar. Sahney donated 50 giant waterproof tents that can accommodate over 1,000 people to serve as temporary shelters. Food packets, clean drinking water, basic medicines, mosquito repellents, life jackets and safety gear for relief work were also disturbed through over 100 volunteers of his Sun Foundation, according to a statement. In Punjab, the ruling AAP faced the ire of the opposition over the flooding.

Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, the Congress' Punjab unit chief, on Thursday launched a counter attack on Mann after the chief minister attacked the opposition. Warring said the AAP dispensation is not running the state with a policy.

"You are running the stage and we, sorry, are not clowns," Warring said in a tweet in Punjabi.

"You are responsible for the situation in Punjab today because you did not make any plan to deal with the floods despite the warning of the Meteorological Department," the Congress leader said.

Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal appealed to Mann to take corrective steps to mitigate the sufferings of the people "instead of relying on propaganda to give the impression that all concerns in the wake of damage and destruction to dwellings and fields had been addressed".

In Haryana, in an attack on the BJP-JJP dispensation, Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda expressed deep concern over the flood situation in many parts of the state and said the government cannot escape blame as it did not make adequate preparations despite warnings of heavy rain.

Naib Singh Saini, the BJP's Kurukshetra MP, faced the anger of Didar Nagar residents when he went to take stock of the situation.

The locals were enraged over the flood situation and the alleged delay in the arrival of rescue boats. The flood situation has impacted a cross-section of people.

Lt Gen (Retd) HS Panag, who served as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Northern Command, tweeted pictures of his 'Titar Lodge' farmhouse near Fatehgarh Sahib, which has been inundated due to the recent floods.

The governments have set up relief shelters in several districts in the two states.

In Kapurthala district of Punjab, personnel from the Army, the National Disaster Response Force and the Punjab Police evacuated 300 flood victims from marooned villages in Sultanpur Lodhi during the past two days.

At many places, NGOs, locals and religious bodies have come together to lend a helping hand to the affected people.

Environmentalist and AAP Rajya Sabha member Balbir Singh Seechewal on Thursday stepped up his efforts with the help of authorities to plug a 300-feet wide breach on a 'bundh (small dam)' near the Mandala village in Punjab.

Punjab has also increased the number of relief camps to 183 from 127 in flood-affected areas to speed up the relief operations. The process of delivering dry food packets and necessary medicines to the affected people has also been expedited, it said in a statement.

As many as 1,159 villages in 14 districts have been affected by the flood. Similarly, some towns have also been hit by floods.

Teams of the Health Department are working in the flood-affected areas alongside 315 Rapid Response Teams. The department has set up 186 medical camps in the affected areas.

The Food and Civil Supplies Department has also expedited the work to deliver the food packets in flood-affected areas. The state is preparing 40,000 dry food packets while 23,600 packets have already been distributed.