The situation could worsen if weather predictions of more rain in the capital and upper catchment areas come true
New Delhi: After three-four days of flooding in Delhi, the swollen waters of the Yamuna had on Saturday slowly begun to recede, but it is still flowing over two metres above the danger mark of 205.33 metres, a PTI report in The Tribune, Chandigarh, says.
However, the situation could take a turn for the worse as weather forecasts have predicted more rain in the capital and upper catchment areas.
According to the flood-monitoring portal of the Central Water Commission, the Yamuna water level had receded to 207.62 metres by 7 am on Saturday from its peak of 208.66 metres on Thursday. Lesser flow, from the Hathnikund Barrage in Haryana’s Yamunanagar over the past two days, may bring about a further drop in the water level..
Predictions of more rains in Delhi over the next two days by the India Meteorological Department and “heavy to very heavy” rainfall over Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh during the next five days, is a cause for further concern.
In that case experts say, stormwater may overflow and take longer than usual to drain out. Waterlogging could compound the situation further.
On Friday backflow of foul-smelling water from drains spilled into prominent locations such as the Supreme Court, Raj Ghat, and the bustling intersection at ITO.
Earlier, the Yamuna waters had already reached the rear ramparts of the Red Fort and inundated one of the city’s major bus terminals at Kashmere Gate. The Ring Road plains, remained closed for the third consecutive day.
Since about a week, the city had suffered intense waterlogging following rains on July 8 and 9, with the city receiving 125 per cent of its monthly rainfall quota in just two days.
Subsequently, heavy rains in the upper catchment areas, including Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Haryana, led to the Yamuna swelling to record levels.
The river reached 208.66 metres on Thursday, surpassing the previous all-time record of 207.49 metres set in September 1978 by a significant margin.
The river breached embankments and penetrated deeper into the city than it has in over four decades.
With the situation deteriorating every passing hour from Sunday to Thursday evening, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urged the Centre to intervene and the Delhi Police imposed Section 144 of the CrPC in flood-prone areas to prevent public movement there.
For the first time since the 2010 floods, Army assistance was sought on Friday to repair a broken flow regulator at drain no. 12, the cause of flooding in central parts of the capital.
The floods have displaced around 23,000 people from their homes and losses incurred in terms of property, businesses, and earnings have amounted to crores. Experts attribute the unprecedented flooding in Delhi to encroachment on floodplains, extreme rainfall, and silt accumulation that raised the riverbed.
According to Yashveer Bhatnagar, country representative of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the record water level in the Yamuna can be attributed to intense rainfall in the entire upper catchment area.
Bhim Singh Rawat, associate coordinator, South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers, People (SANDRP), said the unprecedented rise in the Yamuna water level was due to riverbed elevation because of significant silt accumulation.
“More than 25 bridges within the 22-km river stretch from Wazirabad to Okhla obstruct the flow, leading to deposition of silt in the riverbed and formation of a lot of mid-stream sandbars,” he told PTI.
The Yamuna river system’s catchment covers parts of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi.
Low-lying areas near the river in the northeast, east, central, and southeast districts, inhabited by around 41,000 people, are considered flood-prone.
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.
Despite this, encroachment and development have occurred at a rapid pace in the ecologically sensitive region over the years.
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