With the water level of the Yamuna rising to a record high life in the national capital has gone out of gear as several areas faced flood-like situation. Residents had a harrowing time with waterlogging on streets, traffic snarls and public transport including Delhi Metro being affected.
River Yamuna continued to flow at 208.62 metres, above the danger mark. However, no changes were recorded in the water levels of the river in the past two hours.
The water level at 1 pm and 2 pm was at 208.62 metre; it was found to be the same even after 3 pm. Early on Thursday, the river continued to flow over the danger mark, with the water level reaching 208.46 metre.
According to officials, the water level of the Yamuna, on the Old Railway Bridge, was recorded at 208.46 metre at 7 am on Thursday.
The water reached the Ring Road at the backside of the Red Fort as the river continued to flow above danger level forcing all the shops around Kashmere Gate to remain closed until Sunday due to the flood situation.
The rise in the water level of Yamuna resulted in inundation of low-lying areas, traffic movement has been impaired on Mahatma Gandhi Marg (Ring Road) between IP Flyover and Chandgi Ram Akhara, Mahatma Gandhi Marg between Kalighat Mandir and Delhi Secretariat and Outer Ring Road between Wazirabad Bridge and Chandgi Ram Akhara, while the area near Nigam Bodh Ghat was also flooded. Traffic on the GT Karnal Road in Delhi was also thrown out of gear as the Yamuna waters breached the warning mark.
In view of the prevailing adverse situation, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal declared that all schools, colleges and universities in the city will remain closed till Sunday and government offices, barring those which cater to essential services, will work from home.
The decision was taken in a meeting of Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA).
Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, who is also Chairperson of Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), chaired the meeting of DDMA to review the prevailing flooding situation in the city.
Besides the CM, the meeting was attended by Delhi Revenue Minister Atishi, Delhi Irrigation and Flood Control Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj and department concerned officials. Kejriwal said several decisions have been taken in the meeting to control the situation.
Addressing the media after the DDMA meeting, Kejriwal said, “Schools, colleges and universities will remain closed till this Sunday. All government offices, barring those which cater to essential services, will work from home. We are issuing advisories to private offices to work from home as much as possible.”
The CM also informed that there would be a significant water shortage in the city in the coming few days. Flooding waters have entered Delhi Government’s WTPs at Wazirabad, Chandrawal and Okhla putting them temporarily out of use. As per the CM, about 25 per cent of the supply will be affected due to this. Citizens are being advised to ration water for the next 1-2 days post which the situation is expected to easen.
The CM also informed that the entry of heavy vehicles except those carrying essential supplies would be temporarily barred from all borders of the state. The CM acknowledged that setting up toilets and washrooms has become a challenge in some relief camps as kawar camps have also been set up around Delhi. “So we have decided to shift some of the relief camps into school buildings,” he said.
Kejriwal also informed that NDRF teams with boats have been stationed and are at work in the flood affected areas. “According to our estimates, more than 20,000 people have been shifted to the relief camps. There are about 50 boats at present, but if needed, the number may be increased as per requirement,” he said.
The CM also informed that since there is no reservoir at the Hathnikund Barrage water is being discharged towards Delhi continuously. “We are receiving hourly data on the same. We are estimating that the water released last night will lead to a rise in the Yamuna waters today, and most likely by tomorrow, it’ll subside again,” he concluded.
As per NDRF inputs, a total of 12 NDRF teams have been deployed in Delhi which includes three in Central Delhi, three in North-East Delhi, two in South-East Delhi, three in East Delhi and one in Shahdara.
In view of the rising water level of the Yamuna river, the Delhi government’s Transport Department has banned the entry of heavy vehicles at certain points and also halted interstate buses at the Singhu border.
In its order, the government said that “the entry of heavy vehicles have been banned from the Singhu border, Badarpur border, Loni border, and Chilla border”.
“Interstate buses from Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttarakhand terminating at ISBT Kashmere Gate will terminate at the Singhu border. These directions will remain in effect until further notice,” it added.
The government also clarified that “these directions do not apply to trucks carrying essential commodities, such as medicines, raw vegetables, fruits, grains, milk, eggs, ice, and tankers carrying petroleum products”.
Delhi is experiencing heavy traffic jams at all its border areas as the water level in the Yamuna River is flowing at a level way above the danger mark, reaching the Ring Road.
Buses heading towards the ISBT were forced to turn at the bypass crossing, leading to confusion among commuters as they were left unsure of how to reach their destinations.
The police have set up additional checkpoints at the starting points of the bypass flyover heading towards ISBT and are not allowing any vehicles to pass.
With the rise in the water level of Yamuna River, the Delhi Metro said that the entry and exit of passengers at the Yamuna bank metro station has been temporarily closed.
In a tweet, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said, “Station Update. Entry and exit at Yamuna Bank Metro Station has been temporarily closed due to the rising water levels of the Yamuna River. However, interchange facility is still available and services on Blue Line are running normally. Kindly plan your journey accordingly.”
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi said that there is a possibility of water entering the Nigam Bodh Ghat, which could hamper cremation activities, adding that people are advised not to venture to the open-air cremation ground and use some other ground instead.
The current water level is three metres above the danger mark.
Yamuna has shattered the 45-year-old record. In 1978, Delhi witnessed a flood when seven lakh cusecs of water were released from the Hathnikund Barrage, causing the Yamuna River level to cross 207.49 meters at the old bridge.
Due to the rise in water level of Yamuna, flooding has been witnessed in several low lying areas of the national capital while many roads have been closed due to waterlogging issues.