Yamuna level recedes below warning level of 204.5 metres in Delhi

The water level in the Yamuna river receded below the warning mark of 204.5 metres in Delhi on Monday and a call on shifting the affected people back to their areas will be taken on Tuesday, officials said.

The flood control room said the water level dipped from 204.65 metres at 12 noon on Sunday to 204.48 at 12 noon on Monday.

The river had breached the danger mark of 205.33 metres around 4 pm on Friday following heavy rain in the upper catchment areas, prompting authorities to evacuate around 7,000 people from low-lying areas. The water level fell below the danger mark around 2 am on Saturday.

 

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had appealed to people to avoid going toward the banks of the river.

"We have made adequate arrangements for the people living near the Yamuna. Cooperate with the government and administration. We are monitoring the situation and are ready to deal with any situation," he tweeted.

A flood alert is declared in Delhi when the discharge rate from the Hathnikund Barrage in Haryana's Yamuna Nagar crosses the one lakh-cusecs mark. People living near the floodplains and in flood-prone areas are evacuated then.

Around 37,000 people who live in the Yamuna floodplains and low-lying areas in Delhi are considered vulnerable to flooding.

People evacuated from low-lying areas in the floodplains have been shifted to temporary structures like tents and permanent buildings like schools in safer areas.

A senior official told PTI the overflowing Yamuna affected low-lying areas near the river in the northeast, east and southeast Delhi and around 7,000 people had been shifted to higher ground.

"Around 5,000 from east Delhi, 2,000 from northeast Delhi and 500 from southeast Delhi had been evacuated. People in north, central and Shahdara districts did not face any major problem," he said.

District Magistrate, East Delhi, Anil Banka said a call on shifting these people back to their areas may be taken on Tuesday as the water level has receded below the warning mark and is continuing the downward trend.

The Delhi flood control room reported a discharge rate of around 22,000 cusecs from the Hathnikund Barrage in Haryana's Yamuna Nagar at 12 noon, which was the highest in the last 24 hours.

The discharge rate was 1.49 lakh cusecs at 1 am on Saturday and 2.21 lakh cusecs at 3 pm on Thursday, the highest this year so far.

One cusec is equivalent to 28.32 litres per second.

Normally, the flow rate at the Hathnikund barrage is 352 cusecs, but the discharge increases after heavy rainfall in the catchment areas. The water discharged from the barrage normally takes two to three days to reach the national capital.

Last year, the Yamuna river breached the danger mark on July 30 and the water level at the Old Railway Bridge had risen to 205.59 metres.

In 2019, the flow rate had peaked at 8.28 lakh cusec on August 18-19, and the water level of the Yamuna had hit the 206.60-metre mark. In 1978, the river had swelled to a record level of 207.49 metres. In 2013, it had risen to 207.32 metres.