M A I N   N E W S

Ambala-Delhi rail traffic hit; Hisar highway closed
Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 8
With fresh breaches in the Ghaggar, the Tangri and the SYL canal, the flood situation in Ambala, Kurukshetra and Kaithal districts in Haryana remains grave.

Rail traffic on the Ambala-Delhi section has been badly affected with the railway bridge on the Markanda, near Shahabad, caving in. While some trains have been diverted via Saharanpur, others have been cancelled. The Ambala-Hisar highway has been breached between Naggal and the Jansui head by the waters of the Tangri river. The traffic on the road has been suspended indefinitely.

The Ambala district administration has requested the Air Force to keep its choppers ready for dropping food packets and water bottles in certain marooned villages if the situation worsens. Boats are not able to reach these villages, though the authorities claim there is no water in the residential areas.

Crops in over 500 acres were submerged in the Chhachhrauli subdivision of Yamunanagar district today due to a breach in the Som near Chintpur village with the rivulet water level rising on account of rainfall in its catchments areas in Himachal Pardesh.

Despite the help of the Army, the 50-ft breach in the SYL canal near Jyotisar in Kurukshetra district has not been plugged yet. The authorities were able to plug another breach in the canal, which occurred 8 km upstream of the earlier breach, last night.

The patience of the people is wearing out, notwithstanding the efforts being made by the administration to provide them succour. Residents of Shahabad blocked the GT Road for about an hour today to protest against the failure of the administration to restore power supply, though the floodwaters have receded. Yesterday, Sadopur residents had blocked the Ambala-Chandigarh highway to protest against the absence of proper drainage.

Thankfully, the flow of water from Punjab is declining. But till the water level in the Ghaggar and the Tangri does not come down, the rainwater accumulated in Ambala district cannot be drained out.

About one lakh acres of agriculture land in about 247 villages of Kurukshetra district have been affected by the floodwaters. Residential areas in 67 villages have been damaged. As many as 19 villages in Guhla subdivision of Kaithal district have been badly affected due to a breach in the Ghaggar near Tatiana village. With the Hansi-Butana link canal overflowing, Kaithal town faces a serious threat of floods. An Air Force team was deputed to drain out water, which flooded the 66 KV substation at Chaurmastpur village. The power supply has been disrupted in the area for past two days. Chief Secretary Urvashi Gulati told TNS that 349 trained men along with 52 rescue boats from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) had reached the three districts.

Earlier in the day, Governor Jagannath Pahadia and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda reviewed the flood situation with the Chief Secretary and other senior officers. Hooda will again visit the three districts tomorrow.

A grant of Rs 2 lakh each by the Haryana Government and Rs 1 lakh each by the district Red Cross would be given to the next of kin of those killed in the floods.

— With inputs from Bhanu P. Lohumi, Kirandeep, Suman Bhatnagar and Satish Seth

Rail services restored

New Delhi/Chandigarh, July 8
Train services on the New Delhi-Ambala section that were severely hit in the last three days due to flooding of tracks, were restored tonight.

“The up line was restored for smooth movement of traffic,” a Northern Railway spokesperson said, adding the down line would be opened soon.

The Railways had pressed into service about 500 men for restoring the tracks, he said. Nearly 28 trains were cancelled today and several others diverted near Ambala. Trains cancelled included Kalka-Chandigarh-Delhi Shatabdi Express (2006), 2057/2058 New Delhi-Chandigarh Jan Shatabdi Express, 4095/4096 Himalyan Queen, 4217/4218 Unchahar Express, IUC Chandigarh-Ambala Passenger, 2 UK Kalka-Ambala Passenger and 304 Kalka-Delhi Passenger. Similarly, evening Delhi-Chandigarh Shatabdi Express was also cancelled. Also, New Delhi-Amritsar and Kalka-New Delhi Shatabdi Expresses, Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Kalka Himalayan Queen Express, New Delhi-Amritsar-New Delhi Shan-E-Punjab Express, New Delhi-Jalandhar Intercity Express, Una-New Delhi Jan Shatabdi Express and Amritsar-Howrah Express were cancelled. — TNS/PTI