New Delhi: As the Yamuna River continued to flow above the danger mark of 205.33m, authorities stepped up the evacuation drive of people from vulnerable areas in Delhi on Saturday, news agency PTI reported.
According to the flood control room, the water level was at 205.99m at 3pm and remained unchanged since 5am. A forecast said that the water level is likely to touch 206m around 6pm, remain stable till 7pm and start decreasing after that.
In the light of heavy rain in upper catchment areas, the water level breached the danger mark of 205.33m on Friday, prompting the authorities to evacuate people from the low-lying areas.
East Delhi Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Amod Barthwal said that 5,000 of the 13,000 people living in low-lying areas have been shifted to tents near Commonwealth Games Village, Hathi Ghat and on Link Road.
"The remaining people are safe and there seems to be no need to shift them to other places as the water level is likely to drop," PTI quoted the SDM as saying.
According to Karawal Nagar SDM Sanjay Sondhi, 200 people have been moved to higher ground areas, and drinking water, food and other essentials have been provided to them through NGOs.
A flood alert is sounded in Delhi when the discharge rate from the Hathnikund Barrage in Haryana's Yamuna Nagar breaches 1 lakh-cusecs mark. People living in flood-prone areas are evacuated then, an official said.
"Around 37,000 people who live in Yamuna floodplains and low-lying areas in Delhi are considered vulnerable to flooding. People evacuated from low-lying areas in the floodplains are being shifted to temporary structures like tents and permanent buildings like schools in safer areas," he said.
It is to be noted that the Delhi flood control room reported a discharge rate of 17,000 cusecs from the Hathnikund Barrage at 6am. It was 1.49 lakh cusecs at 1 am on Saturday and 2.21 lakh cusecs at 3pm on Thursday. One cusec is equivalent to 28.32 litres per second.
Meanwhile, as per India Meteorological Department, "Widespread rainfall with isolated heavy rain" is likely in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Haryana on August 14 and 15.