Anasagar, Pushkar Lake overflow after heavy rains in Rajasthan

Ajmer: The Anasagar Lake started overflowing after continued rains since early Thursday morning and many colonies in the city were flooded as a result.

Heavy rains hit Ajmer on Thursday with showers starting early in the morning and continuing till noon. The Anasagar, which has a capacity of 13 feet, was flowing over its brim when the water level in the lake crossed 14 feet 11 inches.

The water spilled on to the Link Road leading to a traffic jam for many hours.

Water entered inside the JLN Hospital and there was two feet water in the outside premises and in casualty. Similarly, the railway station and bus stand were also waterlogged and passengers struggled to get out of there. Meanwhile, a house collapsed in Nagphani region in the city, and three of a family were killed while one was critically injured.

Nagara, Dholabhata, Kachehri Road, Kesar ganj, Bihari ganj and Ram ganj also witnessed heavy waterlogging and water entered into many houses in Jhalkari Nagar and Gujjar Dharti. There was a flood-like situation in many places and looking to this, the commissioner of the Ajmer municipal corporation Chinmay Gopal went out with her team for rescue work.

She ordered to clean the drainage system in many places and directed to pour sand in JLN Hospital to drive the water outside the gates. She asked people not to litter the drains with garbage, as in many places the drains were found to be blocked.

By afternoon, the showers stopped and water started receding from the flooded localities, but Anasagar continued to overflow, attracting tourists and residents.

Meanwhile, Pushkar Lake overflowed as well due to heavy rains on Thursday and water level rose to as high as 21-feet contrary to its maximum capacity of 16-feet. The lake was dug again in 2010 to increase its capacity to 16-feet and since then the water level in the pond remained lower than it.

On Thursday, rainwater from Nag Hills flushed into the pond raising its level. Rainwater came over the stairs of ghats and flooded small temples present there. It also went into the holy town and the town was surrounded by the waterfalls from Nag Hills.

Similarly rainwater has also raised the water levels in different lakes and ponds of the district including Jwaja Lake, Makreda Lake and Govindgarh Lake. According to irrigation department, 16 out of 26 lakes in the district received good amount of water in this monsoon. It will increase the ground water level. Meanwhile farmers are happy with the rains. They hope that showers continue in this month for good yields in this year.