No respite as heavy rain lashes Haryana, Punjab

YAMUNANAGAR: There was no respite for people in Punjab and Haryana from the incessant rain on Thursday, which left 60 villages in the Yamunanagar district flooded even as the rising water level in the Yamuna river continued to pose a flood threat for the capital as well as parts of Haryana, including Karnal, Panipat and Sonepat districts.
The capital is on high alert as it faces a major flood threat, probably the worst in past 32 years, after 6.86 lakh cusec water was released into the Yamuna from Hathnikund barrage on Wednesday evening.Moreover, another 1 lakh cusec water from small rivulets along the way is expected to reach Delhi by Friday evening.
At 9am on Thursday, over 2 lakh cusec water was recorded at Hathnikund barrage in the Yamunangar district. The danger mark at the barrage is at 80,000 cusec. The Chharauli-Ponta Sahib National Highway Number 73 A connecting Haryana with Himachal Pradesh remained out of bounds for traffic on Thursday after the highway witnessed a 20-ft breach near Urjani village a day earlier.
The Ambala-Saharanpur road connecting Haryana with Uttar Pardesh was inundated by about 1-ft water near Kalanaur and Mandoli villages affecting the vehicular movement. The situation in Ropar and Anandpur Sahib areas of Punjab had also worsened due to overflowing of the Sutlej river and additional release of water in it from reservoirs.
Meanwhile, nearly 50 villages in the Sonepat district on the banks of Yamuna face a fresh flood threat in view of the heavy rainfall in the catchment areas over the past two days.