Heavy rains lash region, Haryana sounds alert as Yamuna in spate

CHANDIGARH: Mercury levels plummeted appreciably after rains lashed several parts of Punjab and Haryana on Thursday. Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, also received showers, a Meteorological (MeT) department official said here.

In Haryana, Rohtak, Sonipat, Narnaul, Panchkula, Ambala, Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra and parts of the National Capital Region including Gurgaon and Faridabad, recorded a fall in temperatures due to the rains.

Ludhiana, Patiala, Amritsar, Mohali, Rupnagar, were the areas in Punjab to receive moderate rainfall.

Several parts of the two states have received moderate rainfall in the past few days. The maximum temperature at most places in the region has hovered around the 32 degrees Celsius mark for the past few days.

Meanwhile, after heavy rains in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the water level in Hathnikund barrage in Haryana's Yamunanagar district increased alarmingly on Thursday, forcing the authorities to sound an alert.

Residents of villages along the Yamuna river have been advised not to go near the river or let their animals venture near it, a government official said here.

He said officials of various departments in Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Panipat and Sonipat districts have sounded the alert.

The water level at the Hathnikund barrage -- which provides drinking water to New Delhi -- along the Haryana-Uttarakhand border had also risen in the morning.

The Yamuna river passes through Yamunanagar, Karnal and Panipat districts in Haryana before entering New Delhi.