Chandigarh, June 18 -- The high court on Wednesday allowed the Punjab government to carry out de-silting work at strategic Aggampur bridge on Sutlej river in Rupnagar.

The high court bench of justice JS Puri acted on the plea from the state government that had sought permission for the same arguing that the water which is only flowing from two gates (out of seven) has to be diverted towards the other gates. The velocity of the water during the monsoon will be much higher and a large area downstream can be flooded in case remaining gates are not opened and that can only be resolved by desilting process, it said.

The repair work at gate number 1, which was in a dilapidated condition, was going on but because of an order from the court on ...