Bathinda, July 12 -- Nearly 200 houses in the Sai Nagar locality in Bathinda were flooded after a breach in a distributary of the Sirhind Canal early on Friday. Officials said efforts are on to plug the 60-foot breach in the low-lying area near Ganpati Enclave on Dabwali road. Deputy commissioner Showkat Ahmad Parray said that the water supply in the canal had been stopped and the level had come down by a foot by noon. He said that the catchment area upstream had been getting heavy rain this week, which led to a sudden increase in the water level in the irrigation channel. "The canal distributary is old and the embankment was breached due to heavy flow. The irrigation department is repairing the breach and we expect it to be plugged in three days," Parray said. Gurjit Singh, a local resident, said the entire locality was submerged with water accumulating up to six feet in several parts. People were seen using tractor-trolleys to rescue residents and household articles from the flooded houses. "The current in the canal was so strong that it did not give enough time to move to a safer place. My daily needs shop is flooded, too," said a woman running a provision store in the area....