Flood-like situation in Ambala after heavy rainfall

AMBALA: Many parts of Ambala district witnessed flood-like situation after heavy rainfall in the district on Monday.


The Ambala administration said that the district recorded around 100mm rainfall in the past 24 hours.

Taking precautionary measures, Ambala deputy commissioner (DC) Sharandeep Kaur Brar had delared holiday in all schools late on Sunday.

The rain water which flooded several villages and residential areas in the district has started to recede. However, some of the low-lying areas are still witnessing waterlogging.

The administration has deployed full machinery to remove water from the affected villages and colonies.

Several villages including Khatoli, Mandour, Sultanpur, Kakru, Dadiana, Lohgarh, Dangheri, and Manakpur situated along the banks of Ghaggar river and new Ambala-Kaithal National Highway were flooded due to rain water. Flood-like situation was also witnessed in BBMB Colony in Dhulkote, Jaggi Colony and Asa Singh Garden Colony.

“On Monday, the water level of Tangri River was recorded maximum at 8,000 cusec and in the evening it receded to 4,000 cusec; for the Ghaggar River, the maximum was recorded at 11,000 cusec while it receded to 8,000 cusec by the evening. In Markanda River, the maximum level was recorded at 28,000 cusec and it receded to below 20,000 cusec in the evening,” irrigation department officials said.

“The rainfall gauges situated at our offices recorded 30mm in Barara, 52mm in Ambala City and 110mm in Naraingarh whereas the gauge at Model Town, Ambala City office of the Irrigation Department has recorded around 145mm rainfall. On an average, the district has witnessed around 100mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours. The situation is under control and full machinery is deployed to remove the rain water.”

Flaws in construction of new Kaithal National Highway

The newly-developed Ambala-Kaithal NH is around 5 feet above from the ground level of the villages situated alongside it towards Ghaggar. This has halted the natural flow of the water from higher to lower areas and there is no passage for water to go through the highway. From Kakru village on Chandigarh-Ambala Road to Jansui village Bhakhra canal head on new Kaithal NH, several villages were affected by the water. Ambala deputy commissioner has written a letter to the regional officer of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), Haryana chief secretary and Haryana finance commissioner, so some pipes are laid under the newly-developed Kaithal NH to provide a passage for the water to recede.