The old iron bridge over Yamuna has been temporarily closed for traffic movement as the river exceeded the evacuation mark in Delhi, police said on Tuesday.
In a tweet, the Delhi Traffic Police said, “Iron bridge pusta road Gandhi Nagar is closed for public/traffic till further orders due to dangerous level of water in Yamuna river. Commuters are advised to plan their journey accordingly.” The Yamuna in Delhi has exceeded the evacuation mark of 206 metres, prompting the relocation of people residing in flood-prone areas to safer locations.
The river crossed the danger mark of 205.33 metres in Delhi on Monday evening, much earlier than anticipated. It is expected that the water level in the river will rise to 206.65 metres by Tuesday afternoon, before gradually falling.
The Old Yamuna Bridge, also known as the ‘Loha Pul’, has been the Railways’ warhorse for a century and a half and despite being temporarily closed almost every year during monsoon when the level of the river rises.
The new bridge — being built parallel to the old one and across the river by Northern Railway — is likely to be commissioned next year, after two decades of construction.
The new bridge was planned to ease the burden on the Loha Pul, but due to many roadblocks, the project kept getting delayed.
Sanctioned in 1997-98, work on the bridge started in 2003 and was expected to be completed within four to five years.
A portion of a road caved-in near Sher Shah road here on Tuesday morning, leading to traffic congestion at India Gate C-Hexagon, the traffic police said.
Delhi has been witnessing rainfall for the last three consecutive days causing waterlogging and traffic congestion in several parts.
Taking to Twitter, the Delhi Traffic Police alerted commuters about the road cave in and advised them to plan their journey accordingly.
“Traffic is affected on C-Hexagon India gate due to road cave-in near Shershah road cut. Commuters are advised to plan their journey accordingly,” the traffic police said in its tweet. The affected portion of the road has been barricaded to prevent any mishap, police said.
