With torrential rains hitting the plains and mountainous areas for the past four days, the water level of Ganga and its tributaries has started rising approaching close to the danger mark on Monday.

 The Haridwar district administration has sounded an alert in villages of the Laksar Tehsil adjacent to the Ganga and Solani rivers and the flood posts have also been alerted.  In Ramsahaywala village, the water of seasonal river had entered the houses so administration has directed evacuation of villages in low lying areas.

Due to water logging at main crossings of the city and collapse of Kotawali bridge on Haridwar Najibabad highway, people faced traffic congestion on Sunday and Monday morning. With prediction of heavy rainfall during the day, the schools remained closed in the district on Monday.

The mountain regions of the state have received spells of heavy rain since the beginning of July. For past three days, the plains have also been experiencing intermittent showers on account of which the water level of the Ganga is on rise.

The upper Ganga canal SDO Vikrant Saini said, “The Ganga water level reached 292.30 metres mark on Sunday and on Monday morning it reached 291.75 metres at 6 AM.” The Laksar sub divisional magistrate Sohan Singh said, “We are constantly monitoring the water level in the low lying areas of the Tehsil and seeking updates.

The disaster management teams are also in place. The warning level is at 293 metres while the danger mark is at 294. Our team is prepared for emergency in the low lying villages.” The villages of Laksar on flood alert include Gangdaspur, Ramsahaywala, Panditpuri, Dallawala, Jogawala, Sherpur Bela, Rampur Raighati, Dabki Kheda and others. In the villages which surround the Kotawali and Solani rivers, several hectares of land is used as agricultural land by the farmers. With the heavy flow of water, the embankments are breached at places and water enters the fields.

The people’s representatives and 'Apada Mitras' have been deputed for 24 hours in turns especially in Raiyasi, Bhikkampur, Govardhanpur and Madabela flood relief Chowkis, said the SDM.