Hundreds of harried passengers were stranded at railway stations in Punjab and Haryana on Tuesday and Wednesday as many trains were cancelled or delayed due to excessive rains. Road and air traffic was also badly hit.
The Delhi-Chandigarh-Kalka Shatabdi train that was scheduled to reach Chandigarh at 11 a.m. was nearly eight hours late Tuesday.
The evening Shatabdi, which leaves Delhi at 5.15 p.m., started two hours late and was stopped at Panipat. After a halt, passengers were told it would return to Delhi due to floods in Ambala, officials said.
'The Kalka Shatabdi got stuck at Shahabad town in Haryana,' Y.P. Singh, divisional regional manager, Northern Railways said.
The army had to be requisitioned Tuesday evening after the heavy rains led to water overflowing in the Ghaggar river and the Sutlej Yamuna Link canal, causing breaches. Traffic and electricity supply was disrupted. Haryana Director General of Police Ranjiv Dalal issued an appeal to the public to avoid travel on the Ambala-Delhi National Highway 1, connecting the national capital to various parts of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh.
"We appeal to the public to avoid using National Highway 1 unless it is very important for some days as it has started cracking near Shahabad town in Haryana. However, rescue and repair work is on and everything will be in place at the earliest," said Dalal. Ambala, which is around 45 km from the state capital Chandigarh, had received over 550 mm rainfall in the last three days. However, there was no rain in Ambala and Kurukshetra Wednesday morning.
It arrived at the Chandigarh at 7.45 p.m. and proceeded to Kalka. 'It will go back to Delhi at around 10.20 p.m. from Chandigarh. The normal timing is 6.20 p.m.,' a senior railway official said.
Said Raghu Mittal, a harassed passenger: 'I've to reach Delhi today (Tuesday) as tomorrow (Wednesday) I have to appear for an interview for admission in a management institute. But after coming here I came to know about the cancellation of the Jan-Shatabdi train.'
Almost all trains touching Ambala had to be cancelled, a railway official said in New Delhi.'There is heavy water logging at and around Ambala station, leading to cancellations and diversions of several trains,' he said.
The cancelled trains included the Shatbadi Express running from Amritsar to New Delhi, the official said, adding this would lead to New Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi being cancelled Wednesday. Many arterial roads in the region were also waterlogged, leading to traffic jams.
The national highway connecting Chandigarh and New Delhi was under water near Lalru town in Punjab and at Shahabad town in Haryana.Heavy rains also affected air traffic and most flights at Chandigarh airport were delayed.
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal issued a statewide alert and directed all deputy commissioners to monitor the water level in canals and check the vulnerable points on the embankments.
He also reviewed the situation in over two dozen flood-hit villages of Ludhiana district and directed authorities to take remedial action.The weather office said rains would continue for the next two to three days in the region.
With unrelenting rains over the past 36 hours, the three northern states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh have got all but cut off from the rest of the country, with most major roads and rail tracks flooded and unusable.
Buses, trains and other vehicles were stranded and the situation is fast turning grim for those along riverine areas in the three states.
While small rivulets like Tangri near Ambala and Markanada were flowing way above the danger mark, the bigger rivers, the Sutlej in Himachal and Beas along Kulu Manali, too, have turned menacing.
The Army was called to help evacuate people in Kurukshetra and Shahbad. Ghaggar and Rugn in Punjab as well as Haryana are also threatening to break their banks.
Heavy downpour forced air passengers, including cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh, to wade through water at Chandigarh airport. ‘‘There was at least two feet of water along the pathway leading to the terminal. I had to wade through water for my flight to Delhi,'' Yuvraj told Times of India.
Rescue operations were on at a war footing on Wednesday in Haryana's Ambala and Kurukshetra districts where major breaches in rivers and canals led to the flooding of vast areas, prompting authorities to warn against travelling on the busy National Highway 1 to New Delhi.
"There was three-four feet of water at many places in Ambala district that led to the disruption in power supply at many places and paralysed normal life. It was due to the heavy rain during the last two-three days but now we have controlled the situation," said Ambala Deputy Commissioner S.P. Srow.
Due to the flood-like situation in Ambala and Shahabad towns, the evening Delhi-Chandigarh-Kalka Shatabdi was stopped midway leaving scores of passengers, including women and children, in the lurch.
The following trains have been cancelled/partially cancelled/diverted on July 7 : -
TRAINS CANCELLED ON July 7
The 2029 New Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi Express, 4034 Udhampur-Delhi Jn. Mail, 0404Jammu Special train, 4610 Jammu Tawi-Rishikesh Hemkunt Express, 4646 Jammu Tawi- Delhi Jn. Shalimar Express, 4795 Bhiwani-Kalka Express, 4095 Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Kalka Himalayan Queen Express, 2497 New Delhi-Amritsar Shan-E-Punjab Express, 2011/2012 New Delhi-Kalka-New Delhi Shatabdi Express, 2013 New Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi Express, 2014 Amritsar-New Delhi- Shatabdi Express, 4682 Jalandhar City-New Delhi Intercity Express, 2459 New Delhi-Amritsar Intercity Express, 2460 Amritsar-New Delhi Intercity Express, 4681 New Delhi-Jalandhar City Intercity Express, 2498 Amritsar-New Delhi Shan-E-Punjab Express, 4096 Kalka-Delhi Sarai Rohilla Himalayan Queen Express, 4796 Kalka-Bhiwani Ekta Express, 4712 Sriganganagar-Haridwar Intercity Express, 4711 Haridwar-Sriganganagar Intercity Express, 2054 Amritsar-Haridwar Jan Shatabdi Express & 2053 Haridwar-Amritsar Jan Shatabdi Express trains.
4038 Pathankot-Delhi Jn. Express scheduled to depart from Pathankot on Wednesday has been cancelled. Consequently 4033 Delhi-Pathankot Express scheduled to depart from Delhi Jn. on 09.07.2010 will remain cancelled.
The 4887A/4888A Haridwar-Ambala-Haridwar link express has been cancelled on date.
TRAINS WHICH DEPARTED ON 7.7.2010 FROM THEIR ORIGINATING STATION-SHORT TERMINATED ENROUTE
The 5210 Amritsar-Saharsa Jan Sewa Express short terminated at Saharanpur
The 4218 Chandigarh-Allahabad Unchahar Express short terminated at Panipat
The 2904 Amritsar-Mumbai Central Golden Temple Mail Express short terminated at Hazrat Nizamuddin.
The 2232 Chandigar-Lucknow Express short terminated at Saharanpur
The 5708 Amritsar-Katihar Express short terminated at Ambala Cantt.,
The 3308 Ferozepur-Dhanbad Ganga Satluj Express short terminated at Saharanpur
TRAINS SCHEDULED TO DEPART ON 8.7.2010 FROM THEIR ORIGINATING STATION TO BE SHORT TERMINATED ENROUTE
The 5708 Amritsar-Katihar Express to be short terminated at Delhi Jn.
The 5210 Amritsar-Saharsa Jan Sewa Express to be short terminated at Saharanpur.
TRAINS WHICH DEPARTED ON JULY 7 FROM THEIR ORIGINATING STATION-DIVERTED AS UNDER:-
The 2204 Amritsar-Sahrsa Garibrath Express, 2716 Amritsar-Nanded Sachkhand Express, 2926 Amritsar-Bandra Terminus Paschim Express, 2920 Jammu Tawi-Indore Malwa Express, 4038 Pathankot-Delhi Express and 1058 Amritsar-Dadar Express, 5210 Amritsar-Saharsa Jan Nayak Express trains via Gill Jakhal-New Delhi.
