Day after Delhi sounded flood alert, water level at Yamuna below danger mark

New Delhi, July 31: The water level in the Yamuna receded below the danger mark of 205.33 on Saturday morning, a day after the Delhi administration sounded a flood alert and expedited efforts to evacuate people living in the river floodplains.

The water level was recorded at 205.01 metres at the Old Railway Bridge at 8 am. It was 205.44 metres at 1 am and 205.20 metres at 6 am, an official said.

On Friday, with Haryana discharging more water into the river from the Hathnikund Barrage, the Delhi Police and the East Delhi district administration started evacuating people living on the floodplains of the Yamuna in the capital.

The Irrigation and Flood Control Department deployed 13 boats in different areas and put 21 others on standby.

A flood alert is declared when the Yamuna crosses the "warning mark" of 204.50 metres. The situation is being monitored round-the-clock, a district administration official said.

According to the Delhi flood control room, the discharge rate at the Hathnikund Barrage peaked to 1.60 lakh cusecs on Tuesday afternoon, the highest this year so far.

The water discharged from the barrage normally takes two to three days to reach the capital.

Haryana had been releasing water from the Yumananagar-located barrage at the rate of 37,109 cusecs at 8 pm on Friday, it increased to 45,180 at 1 am on Saturday, which resulted in the water level reaching 205.44.

At 6 am on Saturday, the water was released at the rate of 35,109 cusecs.

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

One cusec is equivalent to 28.32 litres per second.

In 2019, the flow rate had peaked to 8.28 lakh cusecs on August 18-19, and the water level of the Yamuna had hit the 206.60 metre-mark, breaching the danger mark of 205.33 metres.

(PTI)