Even as the national capital recovers from the recent flood-like situation, it is clear that no lesson has been learnt by the officials tasked to prevent such calamities. As such, the likelihood of such an event recurring in the years to come cannot be wished away, writes Ifrah Mufti
The month of July brought one of the worst times for the national capital this year. With Yamuna staying above the danger water level mark continuously for over 68 hours — breaking a 45-year-old record — Delhi turned into a ‘city of lakes’ or a ‘city of tents’ as termed on the social media by netizens. Yamuna water level finally hit a notch below the ‘danger mark’, coming down to 205.26 metres by noon, on Sunday. It was the highest at 208.65 metres on July 13, as per the Central Water Commission (CWC).
Late Manoj Misra of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan had been warning the central and state government agencies ever since 2007, that Delhi might fail to tackle a situation like this. Unfortunately 15 years later, these agencies are yet to come out with a plan to face similar floods in 2024. Officials including Somnath Bharti, vice chairman, Delhi Jal Board (DJB), Shelly Oberoi, Mayor, Municipal Corporation Delhi and Ankit Srivastava, advisor, DJB did not answer to repeated calls and messages.
Prime Minister Modi, on Sunday, while addressing the 103rd Mann Ki Baat said, “The past few days have been full of anxiety and hardships on account of natural calamities. Owing to flooding in many rivers including the Yamuna, people in many areas have had to suffer.”
Difference between 1978 & 2023 floods
The official figure of the peak discharge of water at Hathnikund Barrage, then called Tajewala Barrage, into the Yamuna in 1978 floods was over 7 lakh cusecs (cubic feet per second) of water while in July it was 3.6 lakh cusecs for just two hours on July 11, 2023. Meanwhile, there has been 8 lakh cusecs and more discharge from Hathnikund Barrage in Yamuna at least twice in the recent past but the 1978’s HFL had never been crossed in the last 45 years.
Bheem Singh Rawat, associate coordinator of South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) said, “An email exchanged between forest department and DDA officials in July 2022 has revealed that there has been encroachment/development of 2,480 hectares of land in Yamuna floodplain since 2009…”
“Moreover, construction of new bridges and roads along and across the river in the city have been straight-jacketing the floodplain from both sides and adversely affecting passage of flood water. Over the years there have been 26 bridges built; four are under-construction; and three barrages (Wazirabad, ITO and Okhla) fall in the limited 22 km stretch in the city further fragmenting the floodplains, facilitating permanent encroachments and obstructing natural flood pattern of the river,” Rawat said.
He further added, “Further in past five years, DDA has been abusing the floodplain in the name of ‘restoration’ and ‘beautification’ projects and carrying riverfront development, compensatory plantations, ‘biodiversity park’, ‘eco-tourism’ plans on 1,515.50 hectares, increasing the built-up encroachment area in piece meal and altering the floodplains characteristics.
The cumulative impact is certainly a big reason behind the unusual rise in flood level at ORB and the ongoing flood crisis. On one hand these have significantly taken away the floodplains for excess water absorption (cushion) while on the other hand, these structures have been causing stagnation as well as back flooding of waters.”
The issue puts a big question mark on the role of the Central Water Commission (CWC) and the communication gap with the state flood control and irrigation departments. All these agencies have
majorly failed to function according to their mandate.
“Ironically, CWC is a central body headquartered in Delhi and it witnessed one of the worse flood disasters in over four decades. The flood spell has revealed loopholes of CWC’s flood forecasting. The agency is seen failing to forecast the arrival time of flood in the city and the gradual unusual rise in flood level at ORB,” added Rawat in his report on Delhi floods 2023.
Meanwhile, according to The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) Report, Floods in Delhi: Causes and Challenges, “Increasingly, the city has become vulnerable to climate related hazards such as floods caused by unpredictable rainfall patterns. The city has been experiencing floods of various magnitudes in the past due to floods in the rivers Yamuna and Sahibi (through Najafgarh drain). The flow of Yamuna within Delhi is by and large influenced by discharge from Tajewala (Hathnikund Barrage) Headwork 240 km upstream. In the event of heavy rain in the catchment area excess water is released from Tajewala.
Depending upon the river flow level further downstream, it takes about 48 hours for Yamuna level in Delhi to rise. The rise in water level also causes a backflow effect on the city’s drains. The city experiences floods due to its network of 98 drains whose catchment area extends well beyond the city limits. Since 1900, Delhi has experienced nine major floods in the years 1924, 1947, 1976, 1978, 1988, 1995, 1998, 2010 and 2013 when the Yamuna crossed its danger level mark of 204.83 m. The river has crossed its danger level 20 times in the last 33 years (DDMA, 2014-2015) according to the TERI report.
Framework of Delhi’s drainage system
Delhi can be divided into three major drainage basins discharging into the Yamuna: Najafgarh, Barapulaah, and Shahdara basins. The Delhi NCT is prone to flooding from the Yamuna, which has a catchment in Haryana, and Sahibi (Rajasthan) via the Najafgarh drain. The study conducted in 2021 suggests that the Yamuna enters Delhi from the northeast near Palla at an altitude of 210.3m and after a traverse of about 40 km, it leaves Delhi at an altitude of 198.12 m near Jaitpur in the south. Nearly every year, there is flooding in the Yamuna, the intensity of which may be low, medium, or high according to the classification set up by the Irrigation and Flood Control Department, Delhi Government (I&FC).
According to the I&FC department, it is a low flood when the gauge levels are below 204.22 m. Between 204.22 m and 205.44 m, floods are classified as medium, and above 205.44 m, it’s a high category mark. The water level of Yamuna in summers is nearly 201 m and the water generally remains within its threshold limit. No danger is created to life and property and is thus referred to as the low category.
Water that lies between 203 m and 206.44 m is considered a medium category floods. The flood water then spreads out of its threshold and touches the embankments. The floods hitting the Yamuna River in 1967, 1971, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1988, 1995, 1998, 2010, 2013, and 2018 have been the major ones reaching a water level of 206 m or more and thus have been classified as high category floods.
How to avoid repeat of the crisis
The South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) has prepared a report on measures that can be taken to avoid a repeat of the July 2023 flood disaster. According to the report, the Yamuna floodplains have to be intact with the river. There is an urgent need to increase the area of the floodplains in the city.
For this, DDA must reveal the actual and present status of floodplains in Delhi detailing land leased out to construction companies and overall encroached floodplains. It must initiate the process of reclaiming the land encroached by big, influential players.
Secondly, the Yamuna in Delhi is already overburdened with back-to-back bridges, barrages, thus suffocating the river and its eco-system. The river cannot afford another construction further slicing down already fragmented floodplains and compromising the river’s flood carrying capacity.
The structures of the existing bridges must be studied and their flood carrying capacity must be increased accordingly. The ITO barrage is serving no practical purpose and it’s time for decision makers to chalk out its decommissioning process.
Moreover, there is a need to study if there is an increase in siltation load entering Delhi’s stretch of river and getting trapped here or whether it is causing the rise in riverbed level and impacting its flood carrying capacity. The corrective steps must be taken accordingly.
The floodplain restoration projects must be stopped by the DDA and associated central agencies as all activities done so far have been undone by the floods. With the agencies deliberately ignoring warnings by experts that have resulted in wastage of huge amounts of public money, accountability for the losses must be fixed.
Finally, the city needs to do a lot more in terms of rainwater harvesting, protection of water bodies and green spaces.
What experts say
RK Garg, retired chief engineer of irrigation department, Haryana said, “It is a denial of planning by Delhi alone for causing flash floods. The government should commission a study on each affected part of the city. I believe the municipal corporation alone cannot do anything. It should hire an agency to look into the matter.”
CR Babu, Professor Emeritus, former pro vice chancellor Delhi University and head of the Centre for Environment Management of Degraded Ecosystems (CMEDE) said, “Solid waste dump on the floodplains, wet lands filled with dump solid waste, unapproved construction of bridges; endless number of ghats occupying the floodplains like that of Wazirabad Ghat and creation of bunds and high level structures encroaching the floodplains are the major causes for the Delhi floods. This led to a back flow of drainage affecting the low-lying areas.”
Ramesh Negi, who was CEO of DJB between 2008-2012 and also the additional commissioner MCD, handling drainage system 2008-10 said, “The problem is of gigantic magnitude and it has become a national issue. Drainage system needs to be maintained, people need to be sensitised and told that this will become a new normal and due to rapid climate change, it will be more frequent. We need to fill the gaps and a master plan needs to be in place to recover whatever we have lost this time.”