The water level of Yamuna river has increased due to heavy rains in the capital Delhi. The water level crossed the danger mark of 205.33 meters on Sunday morning due to heavy rains in the banks of the river, officials said. Due to this, more than 100 families from the submerged areas of Yamuna have been shifted to higher altitude areas for a few days. On Friday itself, the Delhi administration had issued a flood warning and started evacuating people from sensitive places.
According to the flood control room, the water level on the old railway bridge was recorded at 205.30 meters at 9 am. On Friday, the water level in Yamuna had crossed the danger mark and by 9 pm it had reached the level of 205.59 meters. The water level was recorded at 204.89 meters on Saturday evening. With Haryana releasing more water from the Hathnikund barrage on Friday, the Delhi Police and the East Delhi district administration began work to rescue people living in the Yamuna floodplains in the capital. An official of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority said, the threat of flood remains. We have deployed boats in various areas and families living in vulnerable areas are being temporarily moved to Delhi government tents and shelter homes.
When the water level in Yamuna crosses 204.50 metres, a danger sign warning is issued. The Delhi Flood Control Room informed about the release of 17,827 cusecs of water from Hathnikund barrage in Yamunanagar district of Haryana at 9 am. Normally the flow rate at Hathnikund barrage is 352 cusecs, but the water flow has increased after heavy rains in the submerged areas. The flow in the river had reached 1.60 lakh cusecs on Tuesday, which is the highest ever this year. It usually takes two to three days for the water released from the barrage to reach the capital. One cusec is equal to 28.32 liters per second.
An official of the Meteorological Department said that moderate to heavy rains are forecast in northwest India in the next few days, due to which the water level in the rivers flowing through this region is likely to rise. In 2019, the flow rate had reached 8.28 lakh cusecs on 18-19 August and the water level of Yamuna crossed the danger mark of 205.33 meters and reached the mark of 206.60 meters. In 1978, the water level in the river reached an all-time high of 207.49 meters. The water level had reached 207.32 meters in 2013.