Yamuna water level to rise in Delhi but grave situation unlikely

Torrential rains in the upper catchment areas of the Yamuna will increase the water level of the river in Delhi, but a dire situation is unlikely, officials said on Monday.

According to the Central Water Commission's (CWC) website, the water level of the river at the Old Railway Bridge (ORB) stood at 203.48 metres at 3 pm and is rising further.

The flow rate at the Hathnikund Barrage in Haryana's Yamunagar increased to 75,000 cusecs at 9 am, the highest since July 26.

The CWC's five-day flood forecast suggests the water level may touch the warning level of 204.5 metres on Wednesday.

'We are monitoring the situation. The water level may increase but a grave situation is unlikely,' an official of the Delhi government's Irrigation and Flood Control Department said.

Torrential rains ravaged Uttarakhand on Monday, destroying buildings and causing landslides which breached the national highways to Badrinath, Kedarnath and Gangotri shrines, leaving three people dead and five missing.

Most of the rivers were overflowing due to the rain with the Ganga flowing above the danger mark in Tehri, Haridwar and Rishikesh.

Alaknanda, Mandakini and Ganga rivers are flowing above the danger level in Rudraprayag, Srinagar and Devprayag, the disaster control room in Dehradun said.

In mid-July, Delhi faced unprecedented floods due to heavy rainfall in the capital and the upper catchment areas. The Yamuna river swelled to a record 208.66 metres on July 13, breaching its previous record and penetrating deeper into the city than in over four decades. Over 27,000 people were evacuated. The losses incurred in terms of property, businesses and earnings have run up to crores of rupees.

The river flowed above the danger mark of 205.33 metres for eight days on the trot, starting July 10.

Experts attribute the flooding in Delhi to encroachment on the river floodplain, extreme rainfall within a short span of time and silt accumulation that has raised the riverbed.

The Yamuna river system's catchment covers parts of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi.

The low-lying areas near the river in Delhi, inhabited by around 41,000 people, are considered prone to flooding. Encroachments on the river's floodplain have occurred over the years, despite the land belonging to the Delhi Development Authority, the Revenue Department and private individuals.

The city's northeast, east, central and southeast districts are most affected by floods in the city. A study on 'Urban Flooding and its Management' by the Irrigation and Flood Control Department identifies east Delhi under the floodplain region and highly vulnerable to floods.