After wreaking havoc on lives and livelihoods in parts of Delhi close to it, the swollen Yamuna on Saturday, July 15 morning followed a downward trend, albeit at a slow pace of a few centimetres per hour.
However, it is still flowing over two metres above the danger mark of 205.33 metres.
The situation could worsen if weather predictions of more rain in the capital and upper catchment areas come true.
According to the Central Water Commission's flood-monitoring portal, the Yamuna water level declined to 207.62 metres by 7 am on July 15 from its peak of 208.66 metres at 8 pm on July 13. With the flow rate from the Hathnikund Barrage in Haryana's Yamunanagar decreasing over the past two days, further decline is expected.
Prominent roads still closed
Our Delhi Bureau reports:
Prominent roads were closed for traffic movement on Saturday. Both carriageways of the Outer Ring Road from Majnu Ka Tilla to ISBT Kashmere Gate to IP Depot via Shanti Van and IP flyover still remains closed.
Old Iron Bridge - Pusta to Shamshan Ghat road still closed.
Outer Ring Road carriageway from Mukarba Chowk to Wazirabad closed.
Services at ISBT Kashmere Gate remain suspended for the third day.
More rain likely for next 2 days
The India Meteorological Department (IMD), however, anticipated moderate rain in the city over the next two days and "heavy to very heavy" rainfall over Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh during the next five days, raising concern about a rise in the water level in the river.
In the case of more rain in Delhi, experts said, stormwater may overflow and take longer than usual to drain out. Waterlogging could compound the situation further.
Follow precautions, tells CM Kejriwal
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said the water level of the Yamuna in the national capital is receding slowly and the situation will normalise soon if there is no more heavy rainfall.
With several parts of the city still inundated, the chief minister also urged people to avoid waterlogged areas. Tagging a video of children playing in floodwaters in Delhi’s Shanti Van, he said, “I urge everyone to avoid this. It cud be fatal.” The chief minister further said that the water treatment plants at Wazirabad and Chandrawal will start functioning again by Sunday.
“The water level of Yamuna is receding slowly. The situation will normalise soon if there is no more heavy rain. Water is being drained out of Wazirabad and Chandrawal treatment plants. The machines will be dried afterwards. Both the plants will be started by tomorrow,” he tweeted in Hindi.
“Kindly follow precautions and help one another,” he added.
After wreaking havoc on lives and livelihoods in parts of Delhi close to it, the swollen Yamuna followed a downward trend on Saturday morning, albeit at a slow pace of a few centimetres per hour.
Encroachments, accumulated silt
Experts attribute the unprecedented flooding in Delhi to encroachment on floodplains, extreme rainfall occurring within shorter durations, and silt accumulation that raised the riverbed.
A senior official at the Central Water Commission (CWC) told PTI that the water released from the Hathnikund Barrage took less time to reach Delhi this time as compared to previous years.
"The main reason could be encroachment and siltation. Earlier, the water would have more space to flow. Now, it passes through a constricted cross-section," he said.
According to Yashveer Bhatnagar, country representative of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the record water level in the Yamuna can be attributed to intense rainfall in the entire upper catchment area.
"Encroachment of the floodplains may have an incremental effect," he said.
Bhim Singh Rawat, associate coordinator, South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers, People (SANDRP), said the unprecedented rise in the Yamuna water level is due to riverbed elevation because of significant silt accumulation.
"More than 25 bridges within the 22-km river stretch from Wazirabad to Okhla obstruct the flow, leading to deposition of silt in the riverbed and formation of a lot of mid-stream sandbars," he told PTI.
The Yamuna river system's catchment covers parts of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi.
The low-lying areas near the river in the northeast, east, central, and southeast districts, inhabited by around 41,000 people, are considered prone to flooding.
A study on "Urban Flooding and its Management" by the Irrigation and Flood Control Department identifies east Delhi under the floodplain region and highly vulnerable to floods.
Despite this, encroachment and development have occurred at a rapid pace in the ecologically sensitive region over the years.
Letters exchanged between the Delhi Forest Department and the primary land-owning agency in the city, Delhi Development Authority, show that 2,480 hectares of land in the Yamuna floodplains have been encroached upon or developed since 2009.
