India, Aug. 26 -- Heavy rainfall in their catchment areas continues to swell the Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers, pushing them to dangerous levels and plunging Punjab deeper into the prevailing flood crisis.

The release of surplus water from the Pong, Bhakra and Ranjit Sagar dams has compounded matters, inundating large swathes of farmland and villages in districts located along the three rivers.

District administrations in Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Pathankot, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Fazilka and Ferozepur have ordered schools shut for one to three days, and issued evacuation advisories to flood-hit villages as waters continue to rise.

Sensing the scale of the disaster, the state government has set up a central flood control centre in Jalandhar ...