Delhi Flood: Yamuna Water Level Recedes At 5Cm Every Hour, Relief Expected By Tomorrow

After breaching a 45-year record three days ago, the water level in the Yamuna in Delhi showed signs of calming on Saturday as the flow of the river at the Old Railway Bridge gradually receded.

However, the water level of the Yamuna river was recorded at 207.62 metres, still above the danger level despite the water level receding.

"Now, the water is receding and it will continue receding today and tomorrow... The receding trend will persist since there is no sign of precipitation in the upper regions...The water level of Yamuna at 11 am today stood at 207.43 meters and at 11 pm tonight it will reduce to 206.72 meters," said Ashwani Kumar, Revenue Secretary, and Divisional Commissioner of Delhi Government.

"We can see around five centimeters reduction in the water level and the situation will further improve till tomorrow... We have around 44 camps in Delhi at present, some of them are in schools and some are makeshift arrangements which we are aiming to move to school buildings only. The total number of evacuated people so far stands at 25,478 and a total of 22,803 people have come to the camps," he added.

Update on Metro service

Delhi Metro trains are now crossing the four Yamuna bridges at normal speed amid a fall in water level of the Yamuna on Saturday, the transporter said. Metro trains had been crossing the four Yamuna bridges at a restricted speed of 30 kmph as a precautionary measure due to the level of the river.

"Speed restriction imposed while crossing Metro bridges over Yamuna has been removed. All trains are running at normal speed now," the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said in a tweet.

The four metro bridges are at Yamuna Bank (698.8 metres on Blue Line), Nizamuddin (602.8 metres on Pink Line), Kalindi Kunj (574 metres on Magenta Line), and Shastri Park (553 metres on Red Line).

Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday appealed to people of the city not to take selfies or swim in flooded areas as it could be fatal and said the threat of floods was not over yet.

His appeal came a day after three boys drowned in a ditch while bathing in floodwaters in northwest Delhi's Mukundpur Chowk area.

"Reports are coming from several places that some people are going to play or swim or take selfies or shoot videos in waterlogged places. Please do not do this. It can be fatal. The threat of flood is not over yet. The flow of water is very strong and the water level can rise anytime," Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi.

Over 4,500 traffic personnel have been deployed on the ground in affected areas of Delhi to decongest traffic and help navigate commuters, police said, adding, the traffic restrictions will be removed depending on how fast the water recedes.

Due to overflow of drain water, vehicular movement has also been restricted on the Mahatma Gandhi Marg on both carriageways - from Sarai Kale Khan towards Rajghat and vice-versa.