The evacuation of people living in the low-lying areas of Yamuna floodplain began on Monday evening as the river crossed the danger mark due to release of water from Hathinikund barrage in Haryana amid heavy rains in the northern region of the country. .
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal chaired a high-level meeting to discuss the water-logging situation and rising level of Yamuna and said that there is no threat of flood as of now.
He said his government is prepared to deal with the situation and 41,000 people have been identified to be shifted to relief camps if needed.
The Yamuna in Delhi crossed the danger mark of 205.33 meters due to torrential rains in the upper catchment areas of the river for the third consecutive day. The river crossed the danger mark earlier than expected. It was estimated that it would cross the danger mark only by Tuesday afternoon.
According to the flood-monitoring portal of the Central Water Commission (CWC), the water level at the old railway bridge in Delhi had risen to 205.4 meters till 5 pm as Haryana released more water into the river from the Hathinikund barrage in Yamunanagar.
Evacuation of people from the submergence area of Yamuna started in the districts through which the river flows in Delhi.
The evacuation exercise continues with 8,100 people evacuated from low-lying areas. We have identified schools and community centers to keep them,” said an official from the East district.
The evacuees wanted to live in tents as permanent structures are located some distance away. They are being accommodated in tents. Medical teams are present to assist them. He said that arrangements have also been made for food, DJB water tankers and portable washrooms.
Kejriwal told a press conference that it was “unlikely” that the city would face a flood-like situation in the near future.
”One of the questions that citizens are asking us at this time is, is there a possibility of floods in Delhi? It depends on rains in Delhi and release of water from Hathnikund Barrage.
He said that 3 lakh cusecs of water was released from the barrage on Sunday night, which came down to 2.5 lakh cusecs on Monday morning.
The Chief Minister said that if the need arises, the Delhi government is ready to evacuate the citizens.
“If the river level rises beyond 206 metres, we will start evacuating people living close to the river. We have identified 41,000 people who live close to the river. We have also prepared relief camps that may be required in such a situation,” he said.
Delhi faced floods in 1978 when 7 lakh cusecs of water was released into the Yamuna from Hathnikund barrage and the water level in the river at the old railway bridge was 204.79 metres. Since then several measures have been taken to prevent the accumulation of water.
In 2013, 8 lakh cusecs of water was released from Hathinikund Barrage and the Yamuna river level reached 207.32 metres. But the city was not flooded, he said.
He said that again in 2019, 8.28 lakh cusecs of water was released from Hathinikund Barrage and Yamuna level in Delhi reached 206.6, but still there was no flood.
Citing the weather forecast for the next few days, the AAP leader said there is no possibility of a flood-like situation in Delhi.
Revenue Minister Atishi said that in view of rising water level of Yamuna, all concerned departments are ready and more than 50 motor boats have been deployed for rescue and relief operations.
The diving and medical teams have also been prepared with all necessary material and equipment, he said.
He said monitoring of Yamuna’s level has revealed an “alarming situation” in Khadar areas from Palla to Jaitpur.
The revenue department said that public announcements are also being made urging people to move from flood areas to safer places. In this, the location of all the persons and their respective places have been marked, so that their safe rehabilitation can be ensured as soon as the danger deepens. He said that a comprehensive plan has been prepared to decide the destination for each group of people.
The national capital was gripped by water-logging for the third consecutive day on Monday with Kejriwal announcing several measures to tackle the problem, while admitting that the national capital’s drainage system was not ready to handle the unprecedented rains, causing inconvenience to people. Hui.
Meanwhile, as it rained for the third day in the national capital, commuters faced a lot of trouble traveling in waterlogged stretches.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI,