Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 12: A nine-foot wall of water gushed into the market in Pandoh in Himachal Pradesh leaving a trail of wreckage while in Delhi the people in the Yamuna river bank have been forced to move to their terraces with belongings as the swollen river has flooded homes and markets causing immense hardship to residents.
Both the damages have been caused not by the monsoon fury, which comparatively abated on Wednesday except in some parts of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, but because of opening of dam gates.
On Wednesday evening, the Yamuna’s water level has touched 207.66 metres, the highest since 1963 till the records are available and the Central water Commission has cautioned that the level could touch 207.72 metres by Wednesday evening prompting the Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to seek the centre’s intervention to ensure that release of water from the Hathinikund dam in the upstream in Haryana was restricted to controlled level.
In Himachal Pradesh, water wall broke the safety wall of the Beas river bank and entered the Pandoh market after the floodgates of a dam was opened, allegedly without any warning. “The water was coming from the dam. Initially it was not so much, then suddenly we were flooded. There was no time to remove our wares… I had machinery, spare parts,” said one of the shopkeepers, whose Bolero car was swept downstream and got stuck in the sludge.
The authorities had opened all the floodgates of the Pandoh diversion dam after heavy overnight rainfall in its catchment area. The bridges connecting Aut village to Banjar, and Pandoh village were swept away by the overflowing Beas river in Mandi district.
Pointing out that the Yamuna riverside have been flooded though there was no rains in Delhi for the last three days, Kejriwal in a letter to the union home minister Amit Shah urged the centre to ensure that no more water released by Haryana’s Hathinikund barrage. He requested that “limited quantity of water should be released by from the barrage so that the level of Yamuna doesn’t rise any further.”
Citing upcoming G20 summit in the national capital, Mr Kejriwal said, “If flood happens in Delhi, it won’t send a good message to the world.” The Delhi Police has imposed restrictions on public gathering in the flood-prone areas as a precautionary measure.
At 11 am, the river was flowing at 207.38 at Old Railway Bridge. This was higher than the 2013 water level of 207.32, when the national capital saw flooding. In 1978, the Yamuna had flowed at 207.49 metres, a record that was broken on Wednesday. Delhi has recorded a rapid rise in the Yamuna level over the past three days. The administration has relocated people living in the flood-prone areas and shut the Old Railway Bridge for traffic and train movement.
An official has said the sharp rise in water level was due to continuous rainfall in upper catchment areas and saturated soil from heavy precipitation in Delhi and nearby regions. Water released from a barrage in Haryana has led to the surge in Yamuna levels.
Boats have been deployed to spread awareness along river banks and for rescue work.
Several homes near the bank have been flooded. The shop owners in Monastery Market in Old Delhi area were seen racing against the rising water level to clear their shops. Many of them were seen packing up and leaving.
The flood situation in Delhi comes at a time when north India has been hit hard by monsoon rampage. Large-scale destruction have taken place in Himachal Pradesh due to landslides and flash floods. Punjab too has taken a hit, with massive waterlogging in key cities. The rain fury has now shifted to Uttarakhand.
As many as 31 people have died in Himachal Pradesh, which had reported 18 deaths till Monday. Neighbouring Uttarakhand also lost five people. Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan reported one death each in rain-related incidents. However, Punjab and Haryana state government data claimed 15 deaths in the two states including seven in Haryana.
Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have been receiving “heavy to extremely heavy” rainfall over the last three days. This has flooded rivers, creeks and drains, which has massively damaged infrastructure and disrupted essential services in the states.
Relief measures were going on a war footing in Punjab and Haryana on Wednesday as several parts of the States remained flooded following incessant rains in the past three days. In Punjab, nearly 10,000 people have so far been evacuated in Patiala, Rupnagar, Moga, Ludhiana, Mohali, SBS Nagar and Fatehgarh Sahib districts, they said. The weather remained clear at most places for the second day in the region on Wednesday after three days of incessant rains.
Haryana’s Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala also took stock of the situation in Ambala district on Wednesday. Driving a tractor, he met the affected people who apprised him of huge loss of property and crops caused by the floods. Chautala assured them of extending all possible help in this hour of crisis.
The Delhi government is in the process of evacuating close to 41,000 people identified as vulnerable and living close to the river. Over 7,000 people were evacuated till Tuesday night. In view of the grave situation, the Delhi Police imposed prohibitory measures under CrPC Section 144 in flood-prone areas of the city, preventing unlawful assembly of four or more people and public movement in groups.
The swelling of the Yamuna river led to waterlogging in the Delhi Transport Corporation headquarters area near ITO. Its employees waded through the waterlogged entrance to get into the office on Wednesday. In northeast Delhi’s Gandhi Mendu and Usmanpur villages, flood water has risen to over four feet, local MLA Ajay Mahawar said, adding that the residents have already been moved to safety.
Revenue Minister Atishi said the Delhi government was strengthening river embankments and evacuating people out of the floodplains. The Delhi Disaster Management Authority issued an advisory asking people to move to safer places and cautioning them against passing through low-lying areas. As the flood situation persisted in the Yamuna river, people should stay away from power lines and reach out to the helpline 1077 in case of any need, it said.
