Delhi: Yamuna River Water Level Recedes Danger Level Mark, Likely To Dip Further

Around 7000 people were evacuated from low lying areas by the authorities, once the water level had breached the danger-level mark.

New Delhi: The water level of the Yamuna River has receded from the danger mark of 205.33 metres, officials said on Sunday, adding that it is likely to dip further. The flood control room on Saturday said that the water level dipped from 205.88 metres at 8 pm on Saturday to 204.83 metres at 8 am on Sunday.

When the water breached the danger level of 205.33 metres on Friday around 4 pm, following heavy rain, around 7000 people were evacuated from low-lying areas by the authorities. The water receded below the danger mark on Saturday around 2 am. 

A forecast said the water level is likely to dip to 204.75 metres between 11 am and 1 pm on Sunday and will continue the downward trend thereafter, PTI reported. 

Around 5000 of the 13,000 people living in the low-lying areas close to the river were moved to tents erected near the Commonwealth Games Village, Hathi Ghat and on Link Road, East Delhi Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Amod Barthwal told PTI. Another 2000 people were shifted to safer places in the northeast district. 

Karawal Nagar SDM Sanjay Sondhi told PTI that 200 people had been moved to higher ground from low-lying areas and drinking water, food and other essentials have been provided to them with the help of NGOs.

A flood alert is declared in Delhi when the discharge rate from the Hathnikund Barrage in Haryana's Yamuna Nagar crosses the one lakh-cusecs mark. People living near the floodplains and in flood-prone areas are evacuated then.

"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 have been shifted to temporary structures like tents and permanent buildings like schools in safer areas,"  an official told PTI.

Normally, the flow rate at the Hathnikund barrage is 352 cusecs, but the discharge increases after heavy rainfall in the catchment areas. The water discharged from the barrage normally takes two to three days to reach the national capital. 

One cusec is equivalent to 28.32 litres per second. The discharge rate was 1.49 lakh cusecs at 1 am on Saturday and 2.21 lakh cusecs at 3 pm on Thursday.

Last year, the Yamuna river breached the danger mark on July 30 and the water level at the Old Railway Bridge had risen to 205.59 metres.