Rain plays havoc in Punjab, Haryana

Incessant rains have rendered hundreds shelter-less in parts of Haryana and Punjab and paralysed rail and road traffic. Army has been called out in Ambala and Kurukshetra districts of Haryana following heavy rainfall in the past 24 hours.

At least four people, including 10-year-old Rajnish of Naggal village, were electrocuted in Ambala. The city remained cut off from Chandigarh and Yamunanagar till late in the evening on Wednesday.

Rail services were badly affected after the track at Ambala Cantonment was waterlogged. In Punjab, more than 80 villages in Patiala and Ropar districts were marooned with the Ghaggar rivulet flooding the region.

More than 20 trains passing through Ambala were suspended even as road traffic on Chandigarh-Delhi and Amritsar-Delhi highways was disrupted for most of the day.

The Delhi-Chandigarh Shatabadi Express, which should have reached its final destination by 11 am, was held up between Kurukshetra and Ambala. It finally reached Chandigarh at about 9 pm.

The passengers, including a number of senior Haryana bureaucrats, had a harrowing time. Panchkula’s Mahesh Chandgothia, whose cousin Nikunj Sanghi was left stranded, told the media that the catering staff had no food or water. Eatables were served only in the evening when the train reached Ambala.

At least four passenger trains were cancelled on Wednesday. Officials said a breach in the Tangri river in Punjab’s Jadhpur subdivision added to people’s woes.

There was knee-deep water in a large number of localities in Ambala city and cantonment. Several roads to and from Ambala too were under water.

With the Chandigarh-Ambala highway flooded, traffic was diverted to Banur from Haryana’s border with Punjab.