Chandigarh, Jul 18 (PTI) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday said his government has spent Rs 50 crore on widespread flood management measures including cleaning of the drains to prevent flooding during the monsoon season.

Cleaning of 1,400 km of the total 2,100 km of drains in the state is complete while the remaining stretch is being cleaned expeditiously, Singh said during the 'Ask Captain' Facebook interaction.

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Another 42 projects of flood protection are in full swing at critical sites, he said.

Observing that heavy inflow at the Bhakra dam last year due to the melting snow had caused floods in the state, the chief minister said several proactive measures have been taken this year.

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The Bhakra Beas Management Board was asked to increase the outflow to create a flood cushion and the governments of Haryana and Rajasthan were also requested to do the same, he said.

As a result, outflows had increased to 30,000 cusecs two months back, he said.

Singh further said the Pong dam is rainfed only and the outflows have increased to the level of 15,000 cusecs, with reservoir level being 1335 ft which is 8 feet higher than last year.

In the case of the Ranjit Sagar Dam, the outflows have increased to 14,664 cusecs and the reservoir level is 512 metre which is about one feet higher than the previous year.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)