Kapurthala, Sept. 17 -- The water level in around 14 villages of the low-lying mand areas in Sultanpur Lodhi rose once again, "up to four feet" in some areas, after fresh downpour in the Beas river's catchment areas in Himachal increased the inflow into Pong dam that saw its water-level rising four feet above the danger mark of 1,390 feet on Tuesday. Built over the Beas river, the reservoir recorded 1,394.71 feet of water level at 3 pm, leaving the population residing downstream anxious. Last week, the dam had seen a dip in water level (1,389 feet) when the inflow came down to 34,559 cusecs after floodwaters created havoc in Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur districts for several days. The Pong inflow was recorded 1.72 lakh cusecs on Tuesday from the catchment areas, including Kangra, Mandi, and Kullu districts of Himachal Pradesh. The Bhakra Beas Management Board continued the controlled release of 59,895 cusecs through its spillway gates and turbines downstream into the Beas river, further spiking river's water flow in Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala districts. The flow of Beas, which came down to 60,459 cusecs on Friday, recorded 97,823 cusecs at Dhilwan gauge in Kapurthala on Tuesday. The uncontrolled inflow of water from monsoonal rivulets and khuds into Beas added to the flow of the river downstream. The villagers have again started reinforcing advance embankments, hoping to keep the situation under control. Sarwan Singh of Baupur village said, "The water level in agricultural fields had receded to 1-2 feet, but with sudden spike in Beas flow, nearly 3-4 feet of water has again accumulated." The worst-affected villages include Sangra, Mand Mubarakpur, Muhammadabad, Baupur Kadim, Baupur Jadid, Rampur Gura, Mand Bandu Jadid, Bhaini Karim Baksh and Bhaini Bahadur which are situated alongside the Beas river in Sultanpur Lodhi area. Kapurthala DC Amit Kumar Panchal said the administration has been keeping close watch on the situation. "There have been fluctuations in river's water flow ever since the rainfall in the catchment areas subsided," Panchal said. As many as 145 villages were affected and 5,728 people were displaced by the floods in Kapurthala district. A preliminary report suggested crop loss on 43,426 acres of Kapurthala district. In Hoshiarpur, 20,564 acres were affected as 286 villages were affected by floods. Even as Sutlej's water level dropped to 27,599 cusecs, the water current continued to erode the dhussi bandh along Sutlej river in Jalandhar's Mandala Channa village where the roof of a house collapsed while four other houses developed cracks. The administration got the houses vacated and shifted the families to safer places. Jalandhar DC Himanshu Aggarwal said the river has changed its course and has started flowing towards the right side, putting pressure on the embankment in Mandala Channa village. "We have mobilised manpower and other logistics required for the reinforcement of the bandh," said. Sharing the videos of the critical points, Rajya Sabha member Balbir Singh Seechewal has appealed to the people in nearby areas to bring sand trolleys and sand bags for strengthening the embankment. "The situation is critical," he said. Dr Pemmasani Chandra Shekhar, Union minister of state for communications and rural development, reviewed the situation in the flood-affected areas in Sultanpur Lodhi. No grievance should go unheard, he said as he assured the affected families of support by the central government. The minister further informed that out of 455 telecom towers affected by floods, 99% had already been restored by September 10. He also cautioned about post-flood health challenges, such as diarrhoea and communicable diseases....