Yamuna breaches ‘warning level’ at Old Iron Bridge

NEW DELHI: The water level of Yamuna in Delhi breached the ‘warning level’ on Friday evening as Haryana released more water from the Hathni Kund barrage due to heavy rain.

The district administrations have already deployed rescue boats for residents in the low-lying areas and floodplains. Safety advisory announcements were made on a speaker system. In addition, Quick Response Teams have been formed who are visiting villages in these areas to make people aware of the danger. Relief materials have also been readied, officials said.

“The water level i n the Yamuna has breached the ‘warning level’ of 204.0 m because of heavy overnight rain and the release of water from Haryana. Around 7pm on Friday, it was standing at 204.1m,” said a senior official of the irrigation and flood control department.

While Haryana released around 1.36 lakh cusecs of water on Thursday morning, another 1.87 lakh cusecs was released around 7pm on Thursday. Water was also released on Friday, though in lesser quantity.

“Water released from Hathni Kund barrage, 200km north of Delhi, usually takes around two days to reach Delhi. The water level could rise more once the released water reaches Delhi. It is, however, unlikely to breach the ‘danger level’ of 204.8m,” said an official from the irrigation and flood control department.

Delhi received around 47.1 mm of rain till 5.30pm on Friday which is five times more than the normal. “This is, however, not the heaviest monsoon spell this season. The capital received around 52.4 mm of rain on July 13, which was the heaviest spell this season,” said an IMD official.

The Delhi government had issued the ‘first’ flood warning on Thursday.

Usually a three-stage warning is issued by the government whenever water is released from the Hathni Kund barrage. While the first one is given when more than 1 lakh cusecs is released, the second one is given when more than 3 lakh cusecs is released and the third when it is more than 5 lakh cusecs.

“Even though this water would not have any effect on the city, shanties and farmlands that have come up on the river banks, particularly in very low-lying areas such as Garhi Mandu, Usmanpur and Sonia Vihar could be affected,” said an official.

The highest water level that Delhi has ever witnessed was in 1978 when it touched 207.5m.

“The water will actually help clean the river... While on the one hand, it would help flush out the pollutants and cleanse the river, on the other hand, it would help to recharge groundwater, which in turn would feed the river during the lean season,” said Manoj Misra, convenor of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan.