Water level in Yamuna rising but likely to stay below warning mark: Official

The water level of the Yamuna in Delhi rose slightly on Thursday morning and the river was flowing precariously close to the warning mark, officials said.

The water level was recorded at 203.68 metres at the Old Railway Bridge at 6 pm on Wednesday. It rose to 203.77 metres at 10 am on Thursday morning, an official of the irrigation and flood control department said.

“The water level is likely to remain below the warning mark of 204.50 metres unless a very large amount of water, at least 2 lakh cusec, is released into the river from the Hathnikund barrage in Haryana's Yamunanagar district,” the official said.

Water was being released into the Yamuna at the rate of 18,111 cusec at 8 am from the Hathnikund barrage.

“The flow rate was 24,994 cusec at 2 pm on Wednesday, the maximum in the last 24 hours,” he said.

One cusec is equivalent to 28.32 litres per second.

The river had swollen to 204.38 metres on Monday, which was just a metre below the danger mark of 205.33 metres.

The water discharged from the barrage — which provides drinking water to Delhi — normally takes 36-48 hours to reach the capital.

Normally, the flow rate at the Hathnikund barrage is 352 cusec, but the discharge is increased after heavy rainfall in catchment areas.

Last year, the flow rate had peaked to 8.28 lakh cusec on August 18-19, and the water level of the Yamuna had hit the 206.60 meter-mark, breaching the danger mark of 205.33 meters.

The Delhi government had to launch evacuation and relief operations after the overflowing river submerged many low-lying areas.

In 1978, the river had swollen to the all-time record water level of 207.49 meters.

In 2013, it had risen to 207.32 metres.

Delhi's Water Minister Satyendar Jain had Monday said the government was ready to deal with any flood-like situation.

The India Meteorological Department has also warned of "heavy to very heavy" rainfall in northwest India, which is likely to increase water levels of the river.