Heavy monsoon rains in several parts of Punjab and Haryana on Sunday inundated low-lying areas, prompting authorities to swing into action in the worst-hit places.

Authorities ordered the closure of schools in some affected areas, while the Army was put on alert as torrential rains battered several parts of Punjab.

The heavy monsoon downpour led to traffic snarls on key road stretches in the two states and resulted in flight delays, officials said.

Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said extensive arrangements have been made to deal with any kind of exigency arising out of potential floods.

Several teams of the National Disaster Response Force have also been deployed in the flood-ravaged districts, including Mohali and Fatehgarh Sahib.

The Army personnel in these areas have also been asked to stay alert, Punjab's Special DGP Arpit Shukla said. Haryana's Ambala administration announced holidays on Monday and Tuesday in all government and private schools of the district as more heavy rains were forecast for the area. Three rivers Markanda, Ghaggar and Tangri were reported to flow close to the danger mark in Ambala.

Schools have also been ordered to remain shut in Haryana's Panchkula district on Monday, officials said.

In Punjab's Rupnagar, Mohali and Patiala, authorities declared a school holiday for Monday. Trains on the Rupnagar-Nangal routes were cancelled for the day due to a flood-like situation while road traffic on the Rupnagar-Chandigarh route was affected.

In the wake of a flood-like situation due to incessant rains in several parts of the state, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Sunday directed all the cabinet ministers, MLAs and officials to stay alert and reach out to people in need.

Meanwhile, the DCs have set up flood control rooms in all the districts of the state to help the people in hours of crisis. The helpline numbers have been publicised and officials have been appointed round the clock in these control rooms to serve the people, an official statement said.

Punjab Water Resources Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer said following instructions from Mann, arrangements have been made by the Water Resources Department to deal with any untoward situation caused by heavy rains.

A flood control room has been established at the head office level and field staff have been deployed, Hayer said.

Meanwhile, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar Sunday said the water level of the Kaushalya Dam has risen "significantly" due to heavy rains and 4,000 cusecs of water is being released.

Owing to the heavy rains, the water level of the Yamuna River at Hathini Kund Barrage is constantly increasing, due to which people of low-lying areas adjacent to Yamuna have been asked to stay away from the riverbank. In the evening, 1.9 lakh cusecs of water was discharged from the barrage, officials said.

For the second consecutive day, heavy rains lashed Panchkula, Yamunanagar, Ambala, Karnal, Kurukshetra, and Sonipat among other places in Haryana while Fatehgarh Sahib, Mohali, Rupnagar and Patiala in Punjab also received heavy showers, a Met official here said.

At some places in Punjab and Haryana, water gushed into houses causing inconvenience to the people. In Haryana's Ambala, rainwater entered several shops at the wholesale cloth market as well as some residential localities.

In Punjab's Derabassi, heavy rain inundated the ground floor of a multi-storeyed residential complex leaving the vehicles in the parking lot submerged. Some residents of the complex had to be evacuated by authorities using boats as water had flooded the street.

In Mohali, Deputy Commissioner Aashika Jain convened a meeting on Sunday and visited the Derabassi and Kharar sub-divisions and asked officers to ensure foolproof arrangements.

At the high-level meeting to review Mohali's relief works and dewatering activities, Jain ordered the officials to immediately attend distress calls and expedite de-watering in urban and rural areas to ensure a smooth flow of stormwater.

She also urged the people staying alongside Ghaggar and Sukhna Choe to be vigilant in the wake of the increasing water flow.

"We are roping in six NDRF teams as a preventive measure to reduce the action time. They will be stationed at Mohali and other sub-divisions and one at Derabassi's Tiwana point of Ghaggar river embankment," the Mohali DC said.

Owing to the increased flow in Budhha Dariya stream, the vigil has been increased specifically at low-lying areas and houses or slums on its banks, Ludhiana officials said. In Patiala, residents alongside the Ghaggar River were put on high alert owing to the rise in water level.

The heavy downpour across the Hoshiarpur district since Saturday morning caused a fresh 30-foot-wide breach in the Kandi canal which inundated the fields of low-lying villages of Rampur Bilron, the officials said. Hoshiarpur Deputy Commissioner Komal Mittal said officials were deployed in the area and the breach would be plugged once the rainwater recedes.

In Punjab's Kharar town, a house collapsed due to heavy rain, while a bridge got damaged on the Pinjore-Nalagarh road.

As many as 400 students of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Rakoli in Punjab had to be rescued by the NDRF when the water level in the Kurali rivulet flowing near the hostel started increasing. They were later brought to the relief centre nearby, officials said.

Fourteen people in Punjab's Kurali who got stuck in the water of the Siswan dam were rescued with NDRF help.

Several people residing close to the Tangri bank near Ambala Cantonment have been asked to shift to safer places, officials said.

According to officials, 1.45 lakh cusecs water was released from Ropar headworks in Punjab and the floodgates have been opened. Due to incessant rains in the catchment areas of the Sukhna Lake here, two of the floodgates were opened.

The water level of the Ghaggar river and its tributaries also rose on Sunday while flood gates of Sukhna lake here were also opened.

Patiala Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney, who along with officials is closely monitoring the situation, on Sunday, issued evacuation orders for people living in houses alongside Badi Nadi at Arai Majra in Patiala district.

A three-storey abandoned building at Pipli Bajar in Ambala City collapsed following continuous rainfall in the region, officials said.

Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, continued to receive heavy showers for the second consecutive day. According to weather data from 5.30 am to 8.30 am on Sunday, Chandigarh received 63 mm of rainfall.

The minimum temperature in the two states and Chandigarh have dropped by a few notches after the rains.

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