A view of Yamuna river water level cross the danger mark, at Old Yamuna Iron bridge in Delhi on Tuesday
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
With the water level of Yamuna in Delhi hitting a 60-year-high, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday urged the central government to intervene to ensure that the water level does not rise further.
“Central Water Commission predicts 207.72 meter water level in Yamuna tonight. Not good news for Delhi. There have been no rains in Delhi last 2 days, however, levels of Yamuna are rising due to abnormally high volumes of water being released by Haryana at Hathnikund barrage. Urge Centre to intervene and ensure that levels in Yamuna don’t rise further,” Mr. Kejriwal said in a tweet.
Water level of Yamuna in Delhi depends heavily on amount of water being released from Hathnikund Barrage in Haryana, which is upstream of Delhi.
Also Read | Delhi on high alert as Yamuna crosses danger mark, touches 206.24 metres
Currently, the areas affected are close to the river bank and most parts of the city are unaffected due to the rising water levels in Yamuna.
On Tuesday, Irrigation and Flood Control Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said that the city was unlikely to witness floods, except for areas where people are living close to the river bank.
“There will be no floods in Delhi. You should understand, these are people living temporarily on the banks of Yamuna and when the Yamuna level rises to 206 metres, they have to be evacuated. And it’s only 41,000 people and we are in the process of evacuating them. There is no threat of water getting into residential areas,” Mr. Bharadwaj had said.
Also Read | Evacuation of people from low-lying areas around Yamuna once river touches 206-metre mark: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal
The Delhi government is in the process of evacuating close to 41,000 people identified as vulnerable and living close to the river. Over 7,000 people were evacuated till Tuesday night.
Record water level
The water level of Yamuna in Delhi increased to the highest in 60 years on Wednesday afternoon, according to Delhi government data. The water level at 1 p.m. on Wednesday at Old Railway Bridge in Delhi was 207.55 metres and it is expected to rise further.
The water level on Wednesday afternoon breached the 1978 record of 207.490 metres, which was the earlier highest water level since 1963.
Data of water levels provided by the Delhi government is only from 1963 and not before it.
The Yamuna had breached the ‘danger mark’ of 205.33 metres on Monday evening and it has been rising since then.
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