Delhi Flooded, Schools Colleges Closed till Sunday, Non-Essential Services Asked to Switch to WFH
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 13: After Incessant heavy rainfall in most of the northern parts of the country causing immense loss of life and property, the national capital city of Delhi was placed on an alarming situation on Thursday with the water of swollen Yamuna river flooding large parts of the city disrupting normal life.
The water level in the swollen Yamuna in Delhi rose further during the night, flooding homes, affecting public transport and prompting emergency measures. The Yamuna swelled to a staggering 208.08 metres on Wednesday, more than three metres above the danger mark and smashing the previous all-time record of 207.49 metres set 45 years ago by a significant margin, and causing immense hardships to people living in close proximity to the river.
There are two major barrages on the Yamuna- Dakpathar in Dehradun and Hathnikund in Yamunanagar, upstream of Delhi. There are no dams on the river and, therefore, most of the monsoon flow remains unutilised, resulting in floods during the season.
The Central Water Commission has forecast that the Yamuna level may further go up by later Thursday evening to at least 208.75 metres before start declining from Friday. Water released from Hathnikund Barrage on Yamuna in Haryana (upstream of Delhi), has decreased to 1.03 lakh cusecs at 3 p.m. on Thursday from 1.62 lakh cusecs earlier in the day, according to the data.
Thousands of people staying national capital’s low-lying areas were shifted to safe places as a precautionary measure. The posh Civil Lines area was waterlogged as river water entered nearby localities. The waters are barely 350 metres from the residence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi Assembly.
Waterlogging has disrupted traffic movement on several roads, including in parts of the arterial Outer Ring Road. Traffic has been diverted to alternate routes, leading to massive traffic jams. Compounding challenges for those taking public transport, Metro services have also been affected. The Yamuna Bank Metro station on Blue Line has been shut owing to waterlogging on the approach road. Although operations on all lines remain normal, trains are running at a restricted speed on Metro bridges.
Following a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority, the Chief Minister ordered closure of all schools and colleges till Sunday. Government employees, except those in emergency services, have been asked to work from home. Private offices have also been advised to move to the WFH option.
Water services in some parts of the national capital will be affected as three water treatment plans have been shut down. Chief Minister Kejriwal has said attempts will be made to normalise water supply as soon as the waterlogging clears.
Several teams of the National Disaster Response Force are on the ground, evacuating those whose homes have been flooded. Visuals showed people being rescued on boats from areas where water is flowing at the chest level.
The Chief Minister has sought citizens’ cooperation for evacuation. “Saving lives most important. I appeal to all Delhiites to help each other in this emergency,” he tweeted. The DDMA at its meeting also decided to shift people evacuated out of the flooded areas to neighbouring Government school buildings and to ensure stock of sufficient food, drinking water, medical aid and mobile toilets at relief camps.
Apart from the 12 NDRF teams operational in Delhi, additional teams are already in place to help in the relief and rescue measures at sites prone to flooding. Precautionary and proactive relief and preventive measures will be undertaken in areas like Sonia Vihar, Mukherjee Nagar, Haqeeqat Nagar, etc. that are susceptible to flooding, official sources said.
Several north Indian states have reported a loss of life and property, along with disruption in transport and power as heavy rainfall lashed the parts of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, for the past few days leading to waterlogging, flash floods and landslides.
The Arvind Kejriwal government had urged the centre to step in and stop the water discharge from Hathnikund, but the centre replied that excess water from the barrage had to be released. The water discharge is expected to reduce later in the day.
The Haryana barrage has filled up due to very heavy rain further north in Himachal Pradesh. The monsoon has brought large-scale destruction in the hill state, bringing down homes and sweeping away bridges.
Indian Air Force (IAF) has deployed two Medium Lift Helicopters for flood relief operations at Ambala. The helicopters have so far dropped around 2000 kg of relief material comprising water bottles, ration and tarpaulin sheets in the villages of Niharsa and Allaudin Majra.
Relief work continued at a brisk pace in the flood-affected areas of Punjab and Haryana on Thursday, where the rain fury has left normal life paralysed in worst-hit parts. Considering the safety of students, the Punjab government on Thursday extended the holiday in schools till July 16. Earlier, it had announced holidays till July 13.
More than 300 mail and express trains and 406 passenger trains have been cancelled between July 7 and July 15 due to waterlogging on tracks following heavy rainfall over the past few days, officials said on Thursday. Overall, about 600 mail/express trains and over 500 passenger trains have been affected by waterlogging, they said.
Northwest India saw incessant rainfall over three days from Saturday, with many areas in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan recording “heavy to extremely heavy” rains. This resulted in overflowing rivers, creeks and drains that massively damaged infrastructure and disrupted essential services in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab.
