Chandigarh: Heavy rainfall in Punjab and Haryana on Tuesday threw normal life out of gear and left almost the entire Ambala town flooded where a child died due to electrocution.
The incessant rainfall had flooded several low lying areas in the region, besides affecting power supply and road traffic, officials said.
The entire town, including the Ambala Cantt Railway Yard, has been flooded with up to five feet of water disrupting rail and road traffic in various directions.
Normal life was hit due to the flooding of the district which received 190 mm of rains till early this morning. The power supply has been disrupted due to the damage in power cables.
Meanwhile, a 10-year-old child Rajnish died due to electrocution in Naggal area of the district, Naggal Station House Officer Ajay Singh said.
About 250 shops of the Wholesale Cloth Market have been flooded with water causing a damage of Rs 10 Crore, said President of the Wholesale Cloth Market Association Harcharan Singh Bhatia.
The rain water has also flooded around 500 other shops in the town.
Eight villages - Saha, Pasiala, Kesri, Samalkha, Khudda, Dukheri, Keshopur and Samreri - have been flooded with rain water and the over flowing Markanda and Begna rivers which criss cross the district.
A large amount of agriculture land in the district has also been flooded, officials said.
Trees got uprooted, electricity wires snapped hampering power supply in Punjab and Haryana which were lashed by heavy rains since last night.
The rainfall is, however, being considered beneficial for the paddy crop, agriculture experts said.It is expected that the maximum temperature will further dip in the region, MeT official said.
Patiala received 90.5 mm of rainfall followed by Karnal at 63 mm. Nanagal dam received 59.1 mm rains, Sangrur 50.2 mm and Nawanshahr 30 mm.
Among other places, Dera Bassi received 130.4 mm of rainfall followed by 112.6 mm at Rajpura, 93 mm at Ropar, 13 mm at Narnaul, 24.7 mm at Hisar, 4 mm at Bhiwani, 7.7 mm at Ludhiana. Chandigarh received 86.8 mm of rainfall inundating several places and disrupting normal life in the city.
Rail traffic was today disrupted following heavy rains in the region and flooding of a yard at Ambala Cantt Junction which connects trains to Delhi, Saharanpur, Chandigarh, Jammu, Ludhiana and Amritsar.
At least 22 trains, including two Shatabdi from New Delhi to Chandigarh and Amritsar, have been halted at various stations en-route due to flooding of tracks following heavy rains in the region, a senior railway officer at Ambala said.
The trains scheduled to pass through Ludhiana-Ambala- Delhi section of the Northern Railway were being diverted via Ludhiana-Dhuri-Jakhal-Rohtak Delhi section, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager (SDCM), Ambala Division G M Singh said.
The movement of trains on the Ambala-Chandigarh-Kalka and Ambala-Saharanpur sections would remain cancelled till further decision is taken, he said.
The train traffic from Ambala to Saharanpur, Jammu, Amritsar, Chandigarh, New Delhi, Ludhiana, Patiala and Bathinda and beyond is disrupted since around 9 AM due to flooding of tracks at Ambala and some other places en-route.
The trains halted at various stations in the region include Chandigarh-bound Shatabdi Express from New Delhi at Shahabad Markanda, Una-Chandigarh-New Delhi Jan Shatabdi Express at Lalru, Kalka-Mumbai-Paschim Link Express at Chandigarh, New Delhi-Chandigarh Himalayan Queen at Morha and Lucknow-Chandigarh Sadbhavna Express at Jagadhari.
The other affected trains which have been stopped at various wayside stations en-route, including Shahabad, Shambu, Lalru, Sirhind and Morha, include Akal Takhat Express, Bathinda-New Delhi Inter-City, Barauni Express, Amritsar- Mumbai Paschim Express, Amritsar-Hardwar Jan Shatabdi Express, Jan-Sewa Express and Jammu Mumbai Swaraj Express.
The railways have cancelled four passenger trains on the Ambala-Saharanpur, Ambala-Kurukshetra and Ambala Chandigarh- Nangal routes.
Singh said that additional counters have been opened at Ambala Cantt railway station to refund the fare to the passengers wishing to cancel their journey.
The heavy downpour is likely to raise the level of reservoirs in Punjab and improve the power situation.
Comments
0 comment