New Delhi:
Water levels in Delhi’s swollen Yamuna continued to rise overnight, flooding homes and roads and necessitating emergency action.
The water level in Yamuna was 208.46 meters at 7am today as the Hathnikund barrage in Haryana continues to discharge water into the river. The current water level is three meters above the hazard mark.
Arvind Kejriwal’s government had urged the center to intervene and stop water drainage from the barrage, but the center replied that excess water from the barrage should be drained.
The barrage has filled up due to very heavy rains further north, in Himachal Pradesh, where the monsoon has wreaked widespread destruction.
The ring road in the Civil Lines area has been flooded and the stretch connecting Majnu ka Tila to Kashmiri Gate ISBT has been closed. This place is barely 500 meters from the residence of Chief Minister Kejriwal and Delhi Assembly.
The Central Water Commission has said that the water flow from the Haryana barrage is expected to start to fall from 2pm.
People have also been advised not to use the Nigambodh Ghat cremation site as Old Delhi remains one of the areas worst affected by the flood.
As many as 12 teams from the National Disaster Response Force are on the scene for rescue work.
Although the national capital has not experienced any heavy rainfall in recent days, the surge in Yamuna due to the runoff from Haryana has caused immense hardship for people living near the river. Many people have had to leave their homes after the water flooded in. Thousands have been evacuated and gatherings in sensitive areas have been banned due to the flooding.
Yamuna’s water level is now at an all-time high. This monsoon has seen Delhi’s most rain in decades.