Sukhna water hits danger mark, floodgate opened; Chandigarh starts 24x7 monitoring

Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh

One of the floodgates at Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh was opened around 11 am on Wednesday after the water level reached the danger mark of 1,163 feet due to heavy rainfall in the catchment area, The Tribune reported.

It has been two years since the lake floodgates were opened to release the excess water into Sukhna Choe. The gate was opened to a height of six inches and would be closed when the water level dropped to 1,162 ft, The Tribune reported, citing officials.

To regularly monitor the water level, the UT Engineering Department has deployed officials at the Regulator End of the lake on a 24/7 basis and has also installed CCTV cameras.

#WATCH | Chandigarh: Water level of Chandigarh's Sukhna Lake nears danger mark, one of the three flood gates opened, alert issued in areas near Sukhna Choe. pic.twitter.com/9yEbLwf0PV

— ANI (@ANI) August 6, 2025

A control room has been set up for proper coordination and communication between the district administrations of Mohali and Panchkula and the UT Administration during the opening of floodgates, the report added.

The officials were quoted as saying that the administrations of the neighbouring districts were alerted before the opening of the floodgate.

As per the report, floodgates were opened four times in 2023, six times in 2022, and five times in 2021. The opening of two floodgates in August 2020 caused widespread flooding in the low-lying areas of Zirakpur situated along the Sukhna Choe. On September 24, 2018, the floodgates were opened after a gap of 10 years.