Delhi Continues to Battle Deluge, More Rains Likely Today; 3 Boys Drown in Floodwater | 10 Points

As parts of Delhi continue to battle with floodwaters and traffic snarls caused by it, Yamuna water level on Friday showed signs of calming as it came down below 208 metres for the first time in the last 48 hours. At 11 pm, the water level was recorded at 207.98 metres. On Thursday, it started rising after remaining stable for three hours and reached a height of 208.66 metres by 7 pm, three metres above the danger mark of 205.33 metres.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today conducted a survey at the ITO intersection and Rajghat as a regulator of the Delhi Irrigation and Flood Control Department suffered damage due to waterlogging.

Several areas in the city, including Red Fort, Kashmere Gate, Civil Lines, Rajghat, and ITO, have been submerged in water after the Yamuna breached its banks following days of heavy rain in the city and the release of water from Haryana’s Hathnikund barrage, prompting the evacuation of thousands from low-lying areas. The Yamuna in Delhi swelled to 207.71 metres on Wednesday, breaching its all-time record of 207.49 metres set in 1978.

Here are 10 highlights on the flood situation in Delhi-NCR:

1. Three boys – Nikhil (10), Piyush (13) and Ashish (13) – drowned in a ditch allegedly at a metro construction site while taking a bath in the floodwater in northwest Delhi’s Mukundpur Chowk on Friday, officials said. However, in a statement, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) issued a clarification on the children’s deaths and said, “This is to clarify that absolutely no such incident has been reported from our sites. DMRC’s sites are properly barricaded and entry is strictly regulated only for authorised personnel.”
2. After breaching a 45-year record three days ago, water levels in the Yamuna in Delhi came down to 208.17 metres at 6 pm on Friday.
3. The Okhla water treatment plant, which was shut on Thursday, was opened. In the evening, Kejriwal said the Wazirabad and Chandrawal water treatment plants will resume functioning if the water level goes down to 207.7 metres on Saturday.
4. Water from the Yamuna entered Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial at Rajghat in Delhi, inundating its lawns and pathways today. Due to backflow from a drain in the area, the water rose up to the memorial complex’s entrance to the marble platform where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated.
5. Traffic movement remained restricted at the Mahatma Gandhi Marg from Sarai Kale Khan towards IP Flyover and on Bhairon Road due to heavy flooding. The Delhi Traffic Police has also asked commuters to avoid arterial ITO junctions.
6. Following the breach, water started to flow into the city through the drain, inundating the Ring Road, Indraprastha Metro Station, IP Depot, ITO, and Vikas Marg, reaching the entrance of the Supreme Court in central Delhi. Vikas Marg, one of the important stretches connecting east and Central Delhi, was closed to traffic as the vehicular movement went haywire and commuters got stuck for hours in traffic jams.
7. Construction of the first-ever metro bridge over the Yamuna was halted due to the rising water level of the river.
8. A total of 16 NDRF teams have been deployed in Delhi to tackle the floods caused by the overflowing Yamuna.
9. Water supply shortage hit several parts of Delhi, including Civil Lines, Kamla Nagar, Punjabi Bagh, Kalkaji, Govindpuri, Patel Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Moolchand, and South Extension.
10. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a ‘yellow’ alert for moderate rain and thundershowers on Saturday in Delhi.

(with inputs from PTI)