With lesser water released from Hathni Kund Barrage in Haryana, water level in the Yamuna in the Capital might begin receding by Thursday morning. Officials of the irrigation & flood control department, however, said this would depend solely on the quantity of water Haryana releases into the river.
“The water level in Yamuna has remained constant at 207.32 metres from 7 pm to 8 pm on Wednesday. If it remains stable for the next five to six hours, water may begin receding by Thursday morning,” an official said adding if a huge quantity of water was released, the river might further swell. Notably, Haryana released 77,199 cusecs of water at 4 pm on Wednesday that was unlikely to impact the water level in Delhi.
Yamuna was flowing at 206.48 metres at 9 am on Wednesday but the water level went up to 206.76 metres at 12 noon and further up to 207.32 at 7 pm. The water level; in the river registered an increase of nearly two metres till Wednesday evening as compared to 205.72 on Tuesday. The river had already crossed the danger mark of 204.83 metres on Tuesday. Several low-lying areas along the river were submerged as the river crossed 207.32 metres at 6 pm on Wednesday after and additional 77,199 cusecs of water was released from Haryana at 4 pm on the same day.
However, officials in the Flood Control Department have predicted that the water would increase only marginally by Thursday morning if further water was released. Till now the highest water level of the river was recorded at 207.49 in the year 1978. Several areas of Delhi at that time had witnessed flash floods. In the past 40 years, the city had witnessed floods in the 1967, 1971, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1988, 1995 and 1998.
Earlier this week the neighbouring State had released eight lakh cusecs of water on Monday followed by 1.5 lakh cusecs on Tuesday. The officials said that some low-lying areas near the river, including Garhi Mandu, Usmanpur Pusta and Jagatpur village were inundated by Yamuna waters. Besides, the 145 year old Old Yamuna Bridge connecting East Delhi with the heart of the national Capital, was shut for rail and road traffic on Tuesday after the water level in Yamuna rose dangerously
On her visit to the site on Wednesday, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said the situation was under control and there was no need to panic. “I am keeping a close watch on the flood situation,” she said.