Yamuna water touches 5-year high of 206.5m in Delhi, starts receding

The worst is over for now, or so it seems.

The flood water in Yamuna hit a peak of 206.50 metres on Tuesday evening after five years and thereafter started receding. It is expected to recede further from Wednesday.

More than 13,900 people living in the low lying areas of the floodplains have been evacuated so far. The government has set up at least 1,461 tents in which around 10,546 people have been shifted.

“The water level in the Yamuna hit a five-year high of 206.50 metres on Tuesday around 6pm. As Haryana had started reducing water discharge after Saturday, the water level started receding from Tuesday night. Around 9pm on Tuesday, the water level dropped to 206.20m,” said a senior official of the irrigation and flood control department.

The last time the water level breached the 206m mark was in 2013 when the river swelled to touch 207.3 metres. The highest level the water has ever touched was in 1978 when it shot up to 207.4 metres.

With the rain intensity decreasing over the past few days and officials of the India Meteorological Department forecasting that the upper catchment areas of the river in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are likely to receive less rain, flood conditions are expected to improve in the next few days. On Tuesday, some areas in Delhi received scanty rainfall.

The water level is expected to recede further from Wednesday. Haryana had released around six lakh cusecs of water from the Hathni Kund Barrage on Saturday evening. That water reached Delhi on Tuesday increasing the water level.

“Haryana has significantly reduced the water discharge since Saturday. On Tuesday around 9 pm they released only around 12,300 cusecs,” said the official.

As the water level gradually increased since Monday and complaints poured in that several people were still forced to live on the roads or have not yet received any government help, the authorities stepped up their rescue and relief work.

“In the last 24 hours, we have added around 280 more tents where in around 1,900 more people have been shifted. Around 5000 more people have been evacuated,” K Mahesh, district magistrate of Shahdara district, who also doubles up as the nodal officer of the entire recue and relief operations.

Meanwhile, some families on Tuesday refused to shift to government camps claiming that the tents were set up on the pavements of busy roads making them risky for children.

“Our children are too young. If they manage to sneak out of the camps and start loitering on the road they could be hit by speeding vehicles,” said Vimla Devi a resident of Kisan colony near ISBT Bridge in Seelampur area.

“The camps have been set up right across the expressway. Every time we have to reach the camp to shift our belongings we have to cross the busy expressway. Our children might get hit by some speeding vehicles and die,” added Rekha Devi, who stays in a shanty in Bela Gaon, opposite Rajghat power plant.

A senior official of the revenue department, however, said that not all places are fit to set up tents and had to be installed at a distance from the shanties in some areas.

“We have placed the tents very close to their shanties. Still several people have refused to shift. More tents are being set up. All relief materials, including water and food, are being provided thrice a day. Mobile toilets have been set up and electricity has also been supplied in the tents,” said Anil Sirohi, SDO of Seelampur area.

First Published: Aug 01, 2018 10:18 IST