Yamuna level in Delhi goes below danger level

After crossing the danger mark of 205.33 metres the previous night, the Yamuna water level dipped and stabilised by Wednesday evening, officials of the irrigation and flood control (I&FC) department said.

Officials said that while the Yamuna flowed at 205.56m at 1am on Wednesday, it went below the danger mark at 9am — at a level of 205.12m. The water level dipped further to 204.76 — but remained above the warning level — at 11pm on Wednesday, officials said.

An I&FC department official said officials remain on alert, but trends show that an alarming situation is unlikely in the short term.

“The flow of water released from Hathnikund barrage has been less than 50,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs) over the last 24 hours and it has been progressively going down. The current hourly water release level from the barrage is around 20,000 cusecs and the water level is expected to further go down,” the official said.

The Yamuna in Delhi last flowed above the “danger level” on July 29, data showed.

The water level at Old Yamuna bridge is considered the benchmark for assessing the flood situation in the Capital. Delhi considers a water level of 204.5m at the Old Yamuna bridge as the warning level while the danger level, the point at which preparations for evacuation of people living along the banks of the Yamuna begin, is marked at 205.33m. A water level of 206m is considered the evacuation mark in Delhi, at which point the government begins moving residents to relief camps.

The data from CWC shows that the river first crossed the danger level of 205.33m at 10pm on Tuesday and then rose to 205.56m at 1am on Wednesday. Since then, it has been gradually deceasing, the data shows.

The water released from the Hathnikund barrage — located 228km north of Delhi in Yamunanagar district of Haryana — usually takes around 48 to 72 hours to reach Delhi. A flood alert is issued when the discharge from the barrage goes above 100,000 cusecs.

The Hathnikund barrage regulates the water released towards Delhi from rivers Yamuna, Tons and Giri.

“A rise in Yamuna water level was expected after over 70,000 cusecs water was released on Monday. We expect the levels to gradually stabilise if there are no further spells of heavy to very heavy rainfall upstream,” the I&FC official said.

On July 13, the all-time Yamuna water level record was breached after it touched 208.66m at the Old Yamuna bridge, leading to widespread flooding and waterlogging across Delhi. The previous high was recorded at 207.49m, on September 6, 1978. The water flow from the Hathnikund barrage then was above 200,000 cusecs.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government said that the current release of water won’t be an issue. “The departments are on alert to monitor the situation in real time. We expect government of Haryana to keep Delhi posted in case they release high volumes of water into Yamuna. We also expect Haryana government to distribute water into canal flowing towards Uttar Pradesh also,” a government spokesperson had said on Monday.