Yamuna level falls, tents remain empty

NEWDELHI: The water level in the Yamuna has started receding after reaching a peak of 205.72m on Wednesday. On Thursday evening, it dropped below the ‘danger mark’ of 204.83m and stood at 204.36m.

“The water level of the Yamuna at Old Iron Bridge has dropped below the danger level on Thursday. It is likely to drop further and go down below the warning level of 204m by Friday morning,” said K Mahesh, district magistrate of east Delhi.

Meanwhile, most of the tents that the district administration had set up to accommodate evacuated people from the floodplains remained almost vacant. While the district administration had pitched 603 tents, only around 1,200 people were staying in these tents.

“Each tent has a capacity of accommodating at least seven people. But only around 1,200 people came to live in these tents. Most of the families refused to abandon their hutments on the floodplains till the time the flood water entered their homes,” said Mahesh.

A large number of people, however, turned up every day when the officials distributed food. At least 2,205 turned up on Thursday to have food in the makeshift relief camps installed in six districts.

This is the second flood-like situation that Delhi has encountered within a span of just two weeks. Earlier, in July, the water level shot up to a five-year high of 206.5m. The last time the water level had crossed the 206m-mark was in 2013. It had shot up to 207.3m. In 1978, the water level shot up to 207.49m — the highest to date.