As Uttarakhand releases water, 32 trans-Sharda villages in Pilibhit likely to face floods

PILIBHIT: As many as 32 villages along river Sharda in Pilibhit district are likely to be flooded after Uttarakhand released of 2.74 lakh cusecs of water from Banwasa barrage on Saturday. The water was released in twice with an interval of three hours. Pilibhit authorities have sent a team of engineers from the Flood Control Division to the district’s trans-Sharda region to take stock of the situation.

Chandra Bhan Singh, SDM of Puranpur circle, said so far the worst-affected villages are Rahul Nagar and Colony Number 6, where agricultural fields, village roads and houses are inundated. Residents said the swollen river has washed away three of the 12 spurs of bamboo frames stacked with sand filled plastic bags in Rahul Nagar. These spurs had been structured just three days ago to protect the village from the heavy discharge of water.

“The movement of residents in both villages is possible only by tractor . We are evacuating the villagers and shifting them to safe places. The administration has made adequate arrangements for supplying food and drinking water to the flood victims,” said Chandra Bhan Singh, who is camping at Rahul Nagar to supervise the relief operations.

He said the water level of Sharda is expected to rise more after 10 pm as the water released from Banwasa barrage takes at least six hours to reach Pilibhit.”

According to the district flood control room sources, 1.39 lakh cusecs were released at noon on Saturday and another 1.35 lakh cusecs at 3 pm.

State secretary of Rashtriya Lok Dal, who is a zila panchayat member from trans- Sharda region, said knee-deep water was flowing on Nahrosa-Rana Pratap road at 7 pm. “The agricultural fields in Rana Pratap Nagar were also flooded. “ he added.

District magistrate Vaibhav Shrivastav visited Rahul Nagar on Saturday and TOI that he was keeping a close eye on the situation and all would be protected from the floods .

Flood control room sources said as many as 17 villages in Puranpur and 15 in Kalinagar circle are hit by floods with over 45,000 hectare agricultural land under water.

To tackle the situation, the administration has set up11 flood relief camps in Kalinagar and 12 in Puranpur circle. For evacuation of flood victims, as many as 13 boats in Kalinagar circle and 28 in Puranpur tehsil are on stand-by and so are 28 divers.