Yamuna in spate, alert sounded in lowlying areas of Haryana
MONSOON FURY Flow rate of water crossed 5 lakhcusec mark at Hathini Kund Barrage in Yamunanagar on Saturday evening following heavy rain in hills in HP and northern parts of Haryana, likely to go beyond 6 lakh cusecs
KARNAL:A high alert was sounded in low-lying areas of some districts of Haryana as the flow rate of water in the Yamuna river crossed 5 lakh-cusec mark at Hathini Kund Barrage in Yamunanagar on Saturday evening, following heavy rain in the hills of Himachal Pradesh and northern parts of Haryana.
Officials in the Yamunanagar administration said the flow rate was likely to reach over 6 lakh cusecs by Saturday night and army had already been alerted.
Talking to Hindustan Times, Yamunanagar deputy commissioner (DC) Girish Arora said a warning was issued after the flow rate of the river touched the 5.25 lakh cusecs at the Hathini Kund Barrage.
He said the district administration has alerted the people living in the low-lying areas of Yamuna as there is possibility that the flow rate may rise further.
“We have already identified about 10 villages in the district and sounded an alert there as the water can reach there in next 10 to 15 hours,” he said adding that the army has already been put on alert and a team of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has already reached Yamunanagar.
“I have also talked to the Delhi chief secretary and alerted the deputy commissioners of Karnal, Panipat and Sonepat districts in the state after the rising flow rate in the river, which may rise to six lakh cusecs by Saturday night,” he added.
About 100 acres of acres of standing crops were submerged as the river water entered some villages of Indri block of Karnal disrict.
PEOPLE EVACUATED IN SOME VILLAGES
The senior officials of the district administration are monitoring the situation and said there are no threats of floods yet, but people were evacuated in some villages.
“The army and air force has already been alerted to deal with any eventuality but the situation is under control at present” said Rajiv Bansal, flood control officer.
Though the danger mark at the barrage is above 1 lakh cusecs, the administration sounds high alert after the flow rate touches 2 lakh-cusec mark.
The flow rate, which was 1.25 lakh at 9 am on Saturday morning, crossed 3 lakh cusecs around 11:30 am and it touched 5 lakh-cusec mark by 3 pm.
Meanwhile, the mining operations carried out this year helped in increasing the water holding capacity of Yamuna, which can now accommodate over 7 lakh cusecs.
The district administration has also set up a flood control office in the mini-secretariat, where people can call up at a helpline number in case of emergency.
However , according to reports received after 8,30 pm, the flow rate of the water in Yamana river had started receding at the Hathini Kund barrage.
FLOOD ALERT IN DELHI
The water level reached 205.36 metres at the Old Delhi Railway Bridge at 9pm, exceeding the warning level of 204 metres. Haryana released 4,92351 cusecs of water at 9pm.
According to irrigation and flood control department department officials, around 15,000 -20,000 families living on the river floodplains are affected and being evacuated to the embankments A flood alert was sounded in the villages and slum clusters along the river on Friday.