Chandigarh, Sept. 3 -- The water level at Bhakra Dam rose by nearly three feet within 24 hours, prompting authorities to issue alerts in downstream districts along the Sutlej river, including Ropar, Nawanshahr, Ludhiana, and Jalandhar. Presently, all three rivers - Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi- are in spate, along with other seasonal rivulets, and have flooded large parts of Punjab. The level in the Bhakra Dam's reservoir, Gobind Sagar Lake, on Tuesday was recorded at 1676.72 feet, a rise of 2.71 feet in the past 24 hours. The level is just 3.28 feet short of the danger mark of 1680 feet. "Though the dam can hold water 10 feet beyond the danger level, but this might pose a threat to its safety," an official of Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) said, pleading anonymity. On Tuesday, the Jalandhar administration sounded an alert and asked people residing on the banks of the Sutlej to move to safer places. Education minister Harjot Singh Bains, who is MLA from Anandpur Sahib, said that due to heavy water flow 12 breaches have occurred in the Anandpur Sahib and Rupnagar belt. "The local residents have been asked to stay alert for the next 24 hours with heavy rain predicted on Wednesday and Thursday," Bains added. Bhakra's filling season ends on September 20 and the reservoir receives 70% of its water from the melting of snow and 30% from rain. The inflows into the Bhakra is reported at 1.07 lakh cusecs, while 56,000 cusecs of water is being released downstream through turbines and spillway gates. The floodgates of the dam have been open for the past 10 days. The water level in the Pong Dam over the Beas river is being maintained stable at 1,390.63 feet even though its danger mark is 1,390 feet. The dam is receiving 96,777 cusecs of water, and 95,836 cusecs is being released downstream. BBMB opened floodgates at Pong Dam more than 15 days ago. At Harike headworks, built on the confluence of the Beas and Sutlej rivers, the discharge surged to 2.84 lakh cusecs, compounding the situation in flood-hit Ferozepur and Fazilka districts. As per the government data, 10,000 hectares of agricultural land was inundated in 24 hours, taking the total inundation from 1.38 lakh hectares to 1.48 lakh hectares....