Punjab minister visits Pong Dam, takes stock of water inflow status

Pong Dam (Himachal Pradesh), July 14 (IANS) Punjab Water Resources Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal on Tuesday said the Punjab government is fully prepared in view of the monsoon, with requisite arrangements in place to tackle any exigency.

Along with senior officials, the minister visited Pong Dam in Himachal Pradesh to take stock of water inflow status, where he pointed out that preparedness had been made for the rainy season. He said the water level was 1,322 ft in the dam, which was recorded at 1,326 ft on this day last year, six feet down.

He said the chief minister is duty-bound to protect the people of Punjab from any flood-related exigency during the monsoon season, as a robust monitoring and response mechanism had already been put in place. He added that the safety of lives, agricultural land and public infrastructure across the state is the top priority.

The minister said he was in the Doaba region for the past two days to assess the preparations at various sites where works are either in progress or have been completed.

He said detailed discussions were also held with officials to take a ground report and decide on the action to be taken in the coming days.

Goyal undertook a detailed review of flood protection and drainage management works being carried out across the region, including drain cleaning, boulder stone and hybrid protection works, raising and strengthening of embankments, operation of flood control gates and other flood mitigation measures at vulnerable locations.

He directed officers to keep all critical flood-prone sites under constant surveillance and ensure continuous monitoring of rivers, drains, embankments and flood protection structures.

He also instructed officers to take immediate corrective measures wherever any vulnerability is noticed so that people do not face inconvenience during the monsoon.

He further directed officers to ensure timely completion of all desilting works ahead of the peak monsoon period to facilitate smooth drainage and prevent waterlogging during heavy rainfall.

–IANS

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