New Delhi, August 25
The National Capital is witnessing the wettest August of the past 15 years. The precipitation so far has been the seventh heaviest over the past 110 years, which has virtually brought the city to its knees. There was yet another downpour this morning, the seventh consecutive day of rains, that aggravated the Yamuna flood situation and derailed train services to northern and eastern India.

A bus plies on a flooded road near the Ring Road after heavy rain in New Delhi on Wednesday. — PTI

The rail traffic remained suspended for several hours after a 10-km stretch of the track near the Sabzi Mandi station went under water.

The Shatabdi had to be stopped just a few minutes before reaching the Delhi station as a couple of trains had already lined up there. Passengers said officials had no information as to when the train would resume its journey and many of them left it and hired auto-rickshaws and buses to reach their destinations.

The train also had a few MPs from Punjab and Himachal Pradesh who were headed for Delhi to attend Parliament. Railways spokesperson Anant Swaroop said they were able to pump out water in a few hours and the services resumed around 2.30 in the afternoon. However, it led to rescheduling of trains. The evening Shatabdi was delayed by over three hours.

The trains to eastern India were the worst affected after the authorities decided to stop using the old Yamuna bridge when the river water reached the danger level. “We short-terminated many trains at Shahadra, Sahibabad and Ghaziabad stations. Some trains have been cancelled and many others rescheduled as we diverted the traffic,” Swaroop said.

The New Delhi railway station was a picture of chaos with scores of passengers stranded there. The city is faced with daily traffic snarls, flood crisis, dengue outbreak, but the biggest concern is over the Commonwealth Games projects with many wondering if the already much-delayed projects would be able to meet the August 31 deadline.

However, CWG Organising Committee’s general secretary Lalit Bhanot put up a brave face and said all works would be completed in time. “These works are about beautification, laying of grass and other aspects of landscaping. Heavy rain may force us to stop the work for a while, but we are confident that we would complete all things in time,” he told The Tribune.