Thousands being moved as Yamuna crosses danger mark, floods city areas

NEW DELHI: The Yamuna crossed the danger mark on Monday evening, flooding low-lying areas along the riverbanks in the city and prompting authorities to evacuate thousands of people living in the floodplains.According to the central water commission website, the water level in the river shot up to 205.76 metres at 8pm, much above the danger level of 205.33 metres, due to heavy rains in northern states and release of water from Hathnikund Barrage in Haryana. The water level was expected to rise to 206.65 metre by 3am Tuesday.The low-lying areas along the Yamuna, considered vulnerable to flooding, are home to around 41,000 people. Officials said the teams of six districts – North, North East, Shahdara, East, Central and South East – were collectively rescuing people and rehabilitating them in schools, community centres, night shelters and vacant plots and buildings.CM Arvind Kejriwal chaired a high level emergency meeting to discuss the situation of water logging in the city and rising level of Yamuna. He, however, assured that Delhi was not likely to witness a flood-like situation.“One question that is being asked of us by the citizens at the moment is, are there chances of Delhi being flooded? It depends on rainfall in Delhi and release of water from the Hathnikund barrage,” Kejriwal said. He added three lakh cusecs of water was released from the barrage on Sunday night that reduced to 2.5 lakh cusecs Monday morning.By late evening, a large number of people had left their kutcha houses in the floodplains and taken refuge wherever they could.In east Delhi, around 1,000 people, vegetable growers or working as daily wagers, had gathered under a flyover near Mayur Vihar Extension on Noida Link with their clothes, vegetables and utensils.Suresh Mukhia, a daily wager, said people started coming out after noticing that the water level had come to the waist level by the late afternoon.“We were told yesterday to come out but we thought that the water would recede. By today afternoon, there was knee-deep water near my jhuggi,” Mukhia said.Malti Devi, who does farming on the banks of the river, said many people had to leave behind their cots, beds and solar panels.Mahendar Kumar, another daily wager, said they could not bring their stoves and grains with them as the water level rose very fast. “We are hoping that the administration will help us from tomorrow with food and other essentials,” he said.While Delhi faced acute floods in 1978 when seven lakh cusecs of water was released into the Yamuna, several measures have been taken thereafter to prevent such largescale inundation, including the construction of the Mukarba Chowk bypass road that acts as a bund.Eight lakh cusecs of water was released in the river in 2013 and the water level in the river reached 207.32 metre but there were no floods. Similarly, 8.28 lakh cusecs of water was discharged in 2019 and the water level touched 206.6 metres.Officials said the revenue department had marked the locations of all individuals living along the floodplains to ensure they are safely relocated. As the water level kept on rising Monday morning, revenue minister Atishi went on a boat ride in the river, inspected the area and also assessed the readiness of departments for relief and rescue operations.She boarded a motorboat from the Boat Club near Chandgi Ram Akhada in north Delhi and took a round of the neighbouring areas.After the inspection, Atishi said over 50 motorboats, equipped with all necessary tools and equipment, had been deployed to rescue people and diving and medical teams had also been asked to be on standby to deal with any situation.She added that inter-department teams were monitoring the water level in the Yamuna continuously and the situation in the floodplains — from Palla in north Delhi to Jaitpur in southeast district — was alarming.“Due to heavy rainfall across northern India, the water level in the Yamuna is rising rapidly. Moreover, water is continuously being released from the Hathnikund Barrage. Yesterday, 45,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs) of water was released, which reached up to three lakh cusecs during the night,” Atishi said.The minister added that district magistrates had been instructed to be on alert. “All teams are ready. In Khadar areas, sending people to safe places has been started where arrangements are being made for their stay and food,” she tweeted in the evening.Officials said the revenue department had started public announcements to evacuate people from the lower regions of the river in the morning itself.