Haryana CM conducts aerial survey of flood-affected areas

 Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday conducted an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas in the state.

However, with the decline in rainfall activity in the past two days, the water level in the swollen Yamuna river, which was responsible for flooding in Yamunanagar, Karnal, Panipat and Sonipat districts, was reduced.

A dozen villages in Yamunanagar district were flooded by the excess water released from the Hathni Kund barrage, submerging thousands of acres of paddy, sugarcane and maize crops. So was the situation in other districts too. Farmers were demanding special 'girdawari' to assess the crop loss.

The government had sounded a high alert in Yamunanagar, Karnal, Panipat and Sonipat districts from where the Yamuna passes through before entering the national capital.

"Due to the unprecedented heavy rainfall, the water level in the Yamuna this time has increased to a new high of 8.28 lakh cusecs. In 2013, it was 8.14 lakh cusecs," Chief Secretary Keshni Anand Arora said on Tuesday.

The Met Department in Chandigarh said the monsoon in the hill state -- Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand -- in Haryana's neighbourhood has subdued in the past two days. IANS