Delhi CM summons emergency meeting as Yamuna swells to all-time high

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday called an emergency meeting as the Yamuna in the national capital Delhi swelled to 20771 metres breaching its alltime record of 20749 metres set in 1978Thousands of people have been shifted to safer areas as water gushed into their homes and markets near the river PTI reportedIn view of the grave situation the Delhi Police imposed prohibitory measures under CrPC section 144 in floodprone areas of the city preventing unlawful assembly of four or more people and public movement in groupsAccording to the Central Water Commissions CWC floodmonitoring portal the water level at the Old Railway Bridge crossed the 207metre mark at 4 am on Wednesday the first time since 2013 It rose to 20771 metres by 4 pmThe water level of the river is likely to rise further an official of the Delhi Irrigation and Flood Control Department said The India Meteorological Department has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall to continue in Uttarakhand in the next two daysAs the water level rose to a record level Kejriwal urged the Centre to intervene to ensure that levels of the Yamuna dont rise furtherIn a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah he requested that if possible the water from Hathnikund barrage in Haryana be released in limited speed and pointed out that Delhi is set to host the G20 Summit meeting in a few weeksThe news of flood in the capital of the country will not send a good message to the world Together we will have to save the people of Delhi from this situation Kejriwal saidAlso readMaharashtra Case registered against dead woman for killing her two childrenThe swelling of the Yamuna river led to waterlogging in the Delhi Transport Corporation headquarters area near ITO Its employees waded through the waterlogged entrance to get into the office on WednesdayIn northeast Delhis Gandhi Mendu and Usmanpur villages flood water has risen to over four feet local MLA Ajay Mahawar said adding that the residents have already been moved to safetyNarrating the problems faced at relief camps a person said Its poor people like us who are suffering Government makes false promises but does nothing on the ground We dont get anythingAnother flood victim Radhe Kishan sought to vent his anger at the government saying Last year too the area had got flooded The government has hardly done anything since then and the situation remains the sameThe government could have at least made arrangements for food But that is being provided by a gurdwara he saidRevenue Minister Atishi said the Delhi government is strengthening river embankments and evacuating people out of the floodplainsThe Delhi Disaster Management Authority issued an advisory asking people to move to safer places and cautioning them against passing through lowlying areasAs the flood situation persisted in the Yamuna river people should stay away from power lines and reach out to the helpline 1077 in case of any need it saidTaking to Twitter Kejriwal said Central Water Commission predicts 20772metre water level in Yamuna tonight Not good news for DelhiThere have been no rains in Delhi the last two days However levels of Yamuna are rising due to abnormally high volumes of water being released by Haryana at the Hathnikund barrage Urge the Centre to intervene and ensure that levels in Yamuna dont rise further Highest Flood Level 20749m in 1978 Current Level 20755mThe water level in the Yamuna river has risen rapidly over the past three days It shot up from 20314 metres at 11 am on Sunday to 2054 at 5 pm on Monday breaching the danger mark of 20533 metres 18 hours earlier than expectedThe river had exceeded the evacuation mark of 206 metres on Monday night prompting the relocation of people residing in floodprone areas to safer locations and a closure of the Old Railway Bridge for road and rail trafficWater minister Saurabh Bharadwaj told reporters that the Delhi government was prepared to deal with the situation We are monitoring the situation and all possible steps are being taken he saidMajor floods in Delhi occurred in 1924 1977 1978 1995 2010 and 2013 Analysis of flood data from 1963 to 2010 indicates an increasing trend for floods in September and a decreasing trend in JulyBhim Singh Rawat an associate coordinator at South Asia Network on Dams Rivers People SANDRP attributed the unprecedented rise in the Yamuna water level to riverbed elevation due to significant silt accumulationLack of dredging more than 20 bridges and three barrages within the 22km river stretch from Wazirabad to Okhla obstruct the flow leading to deposition of silt in the riverbed and formation of a lot of midstream sandbars he told PTIAn official explained that the sharp rise in water level was due to continuous rainfall in the upper catchment areas and saturated soil from heavy precipitation in Delhi and nearby regions over the weekendNorthwest India saw incessant rainfall over the weekend with many areas in Jammu and Kashmir Uttarakhand Himachal Pradesh Haryana Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan recording heavy to extremely heavy rains PTI