Policemen patrol the overflowing Yamuna river in the backdrop of the Taj Mahal in Agra on Saturday, July 31
A day after the Delhi administration sounded a flood alert and stepped up efforts to clear the floodplains, the water level in the Yamuna on Saturday dipped below the danger mark of 205.33.
The water level on the old railway bridge was recorded at 204.92 meters at 6 pm. It went up to 205.59 meters at 9 pm on Friday and came down to 205.01 meters at 8 am on Saturday.
After more water was released into the river from Haryana’s Hathnikund barrage on Friday, the Delhi Police and the East Delhi district administration have started evacuating the Yamuna floodplains in the capital.
The Irrigation and Flood Control Department has deployed 13 boats in different areas and 21 others have been kept on standby to rescue the people.
A flood warning is declared when the Yamuna crosses the “warning mark” of 204.50 metres. A district administration official said the situation was being monitored round the clock.
According to the Delhi Flood Control Room, the water release rate at Hathnikund barrage reached 1.60 lakh cusecs on Tuesday afternoon, which is the highest ever this year. It usually takes two to three days for the water released from the barrage to reach the capital.
Haryana was releasing water from the Yamunanagar barrage at the rate of 37,109 cusecs at 8 pm on Friday, it increased to 45,180 at 1 pm on Saturday, taking the water level to 205.44. Water was released at the rate of 29,172 cusecs at 4 pm on Saturday.
Normally, the flow rate at Hathnikund barrage is 352 cusecs, but the discharge increases after heavy rainfall in the catchment areas.
One cusec is equal to 28.32 liters per second.
In 2019, the flow rate had reached 8.28 lakh cusecs on August 18-19, and the water level of the Yamuna crossed the danger mark of 205.33 metres, crossing the danger mark of 206.60 metres.
Read also: Delhi: Yamuna water level crosses danger mark, alert issued in low-lying areas
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