New Delhi, July 12: The Yamuna in Delhi swelled to a staggering 208.08 metres on Wednesday, smashing the previous all-time record of 207.49 metres set 45 years ago by a significant margin, and causing immense hardships to people living in close proximity to the river.
The water level at the Old Railway Bridge crossed the 207-metre mark at 4 am, the first time since 2013, and rose to 208.08 metres by 11 pm. It is expected to rise further. The Central Water Commission (CWC) termed it an “extreme situation”.
With the situation deteriorating every passing hour, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urged the Centre to intervene and the Delhi Police imposed Section 144 of the CrPC in flood-prone areas to prevent unlawful assembly of four or more people and public movement in groups.
All ministers conducted field inspections while leaders of the BJP and the AAP participated in flood-relief work. Lt Governor VK Saxena has also called a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority on Thursday. In a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Kejriwal requested that the water from the Hathnikund barrage in Haryana be released slowly and pointed out that Delhi is set to host the G20 Summit meeting in a few weeks.
“The news of flooding in the capital of the country will not send a good message to the world. Together we will have to save the people of Delhi from this situation,” he said.
There are two major barrages on the Yamuna — Dakpathar in Dehradun and Hathnikund in Yamunanagar, upstream of Delhi.
There are no dams on the river and, therefore, most of the monsoon flow remains unutilised, resulting in floods during the season. Delhi recorded a rapid increase in the Yamuna’s water level over the past three days. It shot up from 203.14 metres at 11 am on Sunday to 205.4 at 5 pm on Monday, breaching the danger mark of 205.33 metres 18 hours earlier than expected.
The river exceeded the evacuation mark of 206 metres on Monday night, prompting the relocation of people residing in flood-prone areas to safer locations and the closure of the Old Railway Bridge for road and rail traffic. The water level breached the previous all-time record of 207.49 metres by 1 pm on Wednesday and the 208-metre mark by 10 pm.
Delhi Water Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj told reporters that the city government is prepared to deal with the situation.
“We are monitoring the situation and all possible steps are being taken,” he said. Embankments are being constructed in the low-lying areas to prevent the entry of floodwater into other parts of the national capital in case the Yamuna’s water level rises further. (PTI)
