NEW DELHI: The Yamuna River in Delhi crossed the danger mark early Thursday for the first time this monsoon season, triggering flood alerts and precautionary measures by authorities.
The water level at the Old Railway Bridge, the city’s key monitoring point, rose to 204.88 metres at 8 am, surpassing the 204.5-metre warning threshold. By 4 pm, it climbed further to 205.00 metres, inching closer to the danger mark of 205.33 metres. Evacuation measures are typically initiated when the level breaches 206 metres.
Officials from the Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC) Department said all relevant agencies were on high alert, and field staff were visiting vulnerable areas to warn residents of possible evacuation. Public announcements to that effect were made in low-lying areas.
“We are monitoring our barrages to ensure that all pumps are functional and manned by a sufficient number of operators,” an I&FC department official told this newspaper.
The sudden surge in the river’s level is primarily due to a massive discharge of water from the Hathnikund barrage in Haryana. For the first time this season, the discharge exceeded 50,000 cusecs, peaking at 57,469 cusecs. This water takes approximately 36 to 50 hours to reach Delhi, raising concerns about a further rise in water levels through the weekend.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported heavy rainfall in parts of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. Barkot in Uttarkashi recorded 10 cm, Roorkee 5 cm, Naina Devi 9 cm, and Pachhad and the RL BBMB site in Bilaspur 7 cm each over the past 24 hours.