Kapurthala/Hoshiarpur, Aug. 15 -- With the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) continuing to release water from the Pong Dam reservoir through spillway gates, there is no respite in the flood-hit villages situated downstream in Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala districts due to the swollen Beas river. However, with reports of high rainfall and cloudbursts in the catchment areas, including Kangra, Mandi and Kullu districts of Himachal Pradesh, the water level is expected to rise in both the dam reservoir and Beas river, to which both Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala districts have kept close watch. As many as 35 villages situated in the Mand area of both the districts have been severely affected due to floods in the Beas river for the past four days. Taking note of increasing water level in the Beas river, Kapurthala administration has initiated evacuation process in its 20 affected villages in order to deal with any sort of exigency. The teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed for the rescue operation in these villages. Kapurthala DC Amit Kumar Panchal said the situation is alarming but completely under control as of now. Meanwhile, people in Hoshiarpur's Rara, Miani, Tahli and Abdullapur in Tanda and Motla, Mehtabpur, Sanyal, Naushehra and several other villages in Mukerian sub-division are worried as the meteorological department has warned of more rains in the catchment areas in the coming days. Hoshiarpur DC Aashika Jain and SSP Sandeep Malik visited these vulnerable areas on Thursday. Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha MP Balbir Singh Seechewal also held meetings with officials of Kapurthala district over rescue operations. Highlighting the situation at Harike, Sultanpur Lodhi MLA Rana Inder Partap Singh stated that while the inflow in Harike was around 13 lakh cusecs, only three lakh cusecs have been released downstream, with 2.5 lakh cusecs diverted into the river. Due to heavy rainfall in Himachal Pradesh, the water level in the Harike headworks, which is situated at the confluence of Beas and Satluj river, has risen and causing devastation in upstream and downstream areas. A wide breach occurred in the canal that passes through Rayya town of Amritsar district due to rise of water level in it. However, it was plugged in the evening....