Heavy Rains Cause Havoc: Dam Gate Breaks in Punjab, 65 People Stranded, 45 Trains Cancelled

Madhopur (The Uttam Hindu)- 7 districts in Punjab are facing floods due to rain and continuous release of water from dams. Meanwhile, due to the rise in the Ravi river, four flood gates of Madhopur Headworks in Pathankot broke. Due to which more than 65 people got trapped here.

In fact, more than two lakh cusecs of water was released from Ranjit Sagar Dam towards Madhopur on Wednesday. Efforts were made to control the water till afternoon so that the gates built to stop the water at Madhopur Headworks could be opened. 65 employees and officers of the department got involved in this work along with external teams. But suddenly four of the 54 gates installed to stop the water were washed away, due to which an employee was washed away. An officer tried to save the flowing employee, but he also got into trouble. Due to this incident, about 65 employees and officers got trapped due to water coming in the Kashmir Canal. A helicopter was landed on the roof to rescue the people trapped in Pathankot Madhopur Headworks.

After this, the District Magistrate was contacted and the work of evacuating the employees and officers through helicopter was started. With the help of two helicopters, everyone was evacuated safely, but unfortunately one employee was swept away in the water, whose whereabouts are still unknown.

At the same time, due to the rising water level of Ravi-Beas and Sutlej rivers, more than 150 villages in Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Ferozepur and Fazilka districts have been submerged. Here NDRF, SDRF and Army have been engaged in rescue. Along with the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, the Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara complex in Pakistan has been flooded.

45 trains cancelled

Due to heavy rains, rail traffic has been suspended between Hiranagar- Ghagwal. At the same time, the railways has cancelled more than 45 trains.