Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 15: Even as the authorities and the people of Delhi struggled to face the floods after a record-breaking rise in water levels in the Yamuna River that flows through the city, heavy rains returned to the national capital on Saturday evening further complicating the situation.
As the city was still grappling with severe flooding of many main roads after record showers, the weather bureau has forecast moderate to heavy showers in the Delhi region in the next four to five days which may add to the problems people are already facing in the capital.
After wreaking havoc on lives and livelihoods in parts of Delhi close to it, the swollen Yamuna on Saturday morning followed a downward trend, albeit at a very 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.
A number of prominent and usually heavy traffic 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, Old Iron Bridge – Pusta to Shamshan Ghat, Outer Ring Road carriageway from Mukarba Chowk to Wazirabad still remained closed while the services at ISBT Kashmere Gate remain suspended for the third day.
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.
The Indian Army and Navy are playing a crucial role in resolving the flood situation after damage to a drain regulator and jammed sluice gates of a barrage in the capital city’s busiest traffic intersection led to Yamuna water spilling on to the roads. Indian Army’s assistance was requested by the Delhi administration on the night of July 13 when Yamuna river was flowing above the danger mark and low-lying areas were getting inundated.
Delhi Chief Secretary and Army authorities discussed the issues that merited the Army’s intervention. One team of Army engineers was deployed to cut the overhang above the sluice gates at the ITO bridge barrage. The team worked overnight and completed the task on one of the gates by the morning, and was on standby for assistance in opening of the jammed gates.
Early on July 14, requirement of an additional team was felt near the WHO building in the same area where back-flow of water from Yamuna started flooding the city as the regulator door was damaged due to the surge of water from the river. Authorities raced to open roads choked by the flood, exacerbated by the release of water from Hathnikund Barrage in Haryana, which has drastically elevated the water levels of the Yamuna River displacing thousands settled on the banks.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has assured that efforts are being made to open all five gates of the Yamuna Barrage, some of which are jammed with silt, to aid the drainage of floodwater. “The water level in the Yamuna is receding. The situation will be normal soon if it doesn’t rain. If it rains, it may take a bit longer,” Kejriwal said earlier in the day.
While the “severe” flood alert was taken down a notch after four days, the city remains on high alert.
Rescue operations are ongoing as authorities evacuate both residents and animals from areas where water has risen to chest level. Roadways have transformed into miniature rivers, making transportation and accessibility a significant challenge.
The scarcity of food in low-lying areas has sparked complaints among residents, adding to the urgency of the situation. Two task forces are being relocated from Meerut to Delhi to assist in handling the crisis.
With the Delhi government under attack over the severe waterlogging, minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Saturday alleged that the crisis was caused by the BJP-led centre and Haryana government wilfully releasing water towards the national capital. Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij countered the charge saying, “In our state also water came from Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, but we are not blaming anyone. We are trying to make arrangements.”
The Indian Army and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were summoned yesterday as floodwaters overtook key areas of central Delhi, including ITO and Rajghat. The water levels have risen so significantly that they’ve reached the Supreme Court and some crematoriums in Delhi, including Nigam Bodh Ghat.
The local government has deployed over 4,500 traffic personnel in the affected areas to manage congestion and aid commuters. The entry of heavy goods vehicles, except those carrying essential items, has been banned from the city’s four borders.
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) said 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 said. The Yamuna river system’s catchment covers parts of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi.
