The Yamuna was flowing close to the warning mark in Delhi on Sunday morning, but the water level is receding gradually, officials said. “The water level was recorded at 203.98 metres at the Old Railway Bridge at 9 am. It was 204.14 metres at 7 pm on Saturday and 204.41 metres at 5 pm on Friday,” an official of the irrigation and flood control department said. The warning level is 204.50 metres, and the danger mark is 205.33 metres.
Water was being released into the Yamuna at the rate of 4,353 cusec at 8 am from the Hathnikund barrage in Haryana’s Yamunanagar district. The flow rate was 11,445 cusec at 11 am on Saturday, the maximum in the last 24 hours. “The flow rate has remained between 4,000 cusec and 15,000 cusec over the last two days, which is not very high,” he said. One cusec is equivalent to 28.32 litre per second.
The water discharged from the barrage — which provides drinking water to Delhi — normally takes two-three days to reach the capital. The water level rose on Friday due to rains in Delhi and neighbouring areas, he said.
The East Delhi district administration has deployed 24 boats, each with two divers, to monitor the situation. More boats and teams of divers are on standby. Normally, the flow rate at the Hathnikund barrage is 352 cusec, but the discharge is increased after heavy rainfall in catchment areas.
Last year, the flow rate had peaked to 8.28 lakh cusec on August 18-19, and the water level of the Yamuna had hit the 206.60 metre-mark, breaching the danger mark of 205.33 metres. The Delhi government had to launch evacuation and relief operations after the overflowing river submerged many low-lying areas.
In 1978, the river had swelled to the all-time record water level of 207.49 metres. In 2013, it had risen to 207.32 metres.
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