Rajesh Ahuja CHANDIGARH: The Army and a 100-member team of the National Disaster Management Authority along with the State Government have launched relief and rescue operations in the flood-ravaged Ambala and Kurukshetra districts of Haryana where over 100 villages and urban areas have been affected. Many train passengers were stranded on Wednesday due to delayed running and cancellation of services. Incessant rain in the region on Monday and Tuesday coupled with breaches in seasonal rivers and canals including the yet-to-be-completed Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal resulted in the flooding of huge tracts of land and low-lying localities in Ambala and Kurukshetra districts. Even National Highway No.1 linking Delhi to Amritsar was water-logged at various places resulting in traffic jams and chaos. People complained of long power breakdowns which were caused by flooding of power sub-stations. Railway authorities confirmed that while the New Delhi Shatabdi had been cancelled, the Shatabdi from Chandigarh to New Delhi was running late. Surinder Gulati, who runs a bakery shop in Ambala, told The Hindu over telephone that the situation was still grim in some localities as more than eight feet of water had accumulated. He squarely blamed the district and civic authorities for not taking timely steps to deal with the monsoon and its after-effects. An official spokesman said people could call the Flood Control Room on phone (2530401) and the Deputy Commissioner's Residence on 2552200 and 2552201 in case of emergency or flood-like situation in Ambala district. The Divisional Development and Panchayat Officer,Tehsildar and Nayab Tehsildar could also be contacted. Deputy Commissioner Samir Pal Sarao claimed that the Ambala district administration was making all-out efforts to drain out the water from the water-logged areas of Ambala City, Garnala, Janetpur, Khatouli, Mandore, Sadopur, Sultanpur, Kakru,village Naggal, Khera and Jansui and Ambala Cantt. He asserted that water-logging had occurred due to average rainfall of 250 mm recorded in the past three days. He said that due to heavy rain in the Ambala sub-division and overflowing of the Tangri river in Khelan Malan and Basoli areas of Punjab, excessive water had entered Ambala Cantt and the city which had created a flood-like situation. He further said that he along with the Superintendent of Police Shashank Anand had visited the flood-affected areas besides the