Centre forms panel to study Yamuna flood management

After water levels of the Yamuna river broke the 45-year record and caused floods in Delhi in July, the Union government has constituted a committee to conduct a “joint flood management study” of the river from Hathnikund in Haryana to Okhla barrage with a six-month deadline to submit the report.

The panel headed by the Central Water Commission (CWC) chairman will also review the utility and functional requirement of the ITO barrage, a bone of contention between Haryana and Delhi governments.

According to a letter sent by the Union ministry of Jal Shakti (flood management wing) to the Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi governments, the committee has been tasked to identify possible drainage congestion in Delhi in case of high spate in the Yamuna.

The committee will “submit its final report within a period of six months from the date of its constitution” and has held its first meeting on September 4 in Delhi, officials aware of the development said.

“The extensive flooding in the Yamuna during July 2023 necessitated giving a fresh look for flood management of the river in its reach between Hathnikund and Okhla barrage,” says August 6 ‘office memorandum’ that the Union ministry of Jal Shakti has sent to committee members and state governments concerned.

The 14-member body comprises CWC members and representatives of the National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad, director of Central Water and Power Research Station, Pune, and senior officers from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi governments.

The panel will also examine feasibility of some innovative measures like creating underground reservoirs for flood moderation in line with Tokyo model are among the 10 key areas the committee will study and give recommendations.

ITO barrage tussle

The Centre has asked the panel to submit an interim report “regarding meteorological aspects, return period floods, discharging capacity of barrages, functional requirement of ITO barrage etc.,” along with interim measures to be taken “within two months.”

The decision to “review the utility of ITO barrage in present context” is significant in the backdrop of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s accusations that Haryana was responsible for waterlogging in the busy ITO intersection and nearby areas since five gates of the ITO barrage could not be opened.

At present the ITO barrage gates are under administrative control of the Haryana government and the Delhi government has been asking Haryana to transfer this asset to Delhi.

In a February 10, 2022, letter to Haryana (HT has copy), the Delhi government had again raised the “long awaited issue of transfer of ITO barrage” to irrigation and flood control department of the government of NCT of Delhi.

It was amid widespread flooding in the capital city in July due to the rise in water levels of the Yamuna that the Delhi government had blamed Haryana for alleged irresponsibility in the handling and operation of the ITO barrage and demanded that its control be handed over to them.

Following this, Haryana had set up a fact-finding three-member technical committee to investigate the matter. The committee in its report held four officials of the irrigation department responsible for negligence.

2 days water from Hathnikund reaches Delhi

There are six barrages constructed on the main course of the river--Dakpathar Barrage, Hathnikund Barrage, Wazirabad Barrage, ITO Barrage, Okhla Barrage and Mathura Barrage, says terms and reference note of Yamuna flood management study.

From Hathnikund Barrage water is diverted to eastern and western Yamuna canals. The river water takes about two to two-and-a-half days to travel from Hathnikund to Delhi.

The Yamuna originates from Yamunotri glacier on the south-western slope of Bandarpunch peaks of the lower Himalayas in Uttarakhand. The Yamuna river basin lies in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Before its confluence with the Ganga at sangam in Prayagraj district of Uttar Pradesh, important tributaries such as Hindon, Tons, Pabbar, Chambal, Sindh, Betwa and Ken join the river.

The Centre has said that due to a combination of western disturbances and southwest monsoon, heavy rainfall in different places of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Haryana occurred during July 9-13 leading to extensive landslides and flooding in the hills and plains.

“The heavy rainfall in the catchment area of the Yamuna river resulted in huge runoff in the river, due to which an earlier highest flood level (HFL) of 207.49 metre recorded at the CWC gauging site of Delhi’s old railway bridge on September 6,1978 surpassed and a new HFL of 208.66 metre was observed on July 13, 2023. This necessitated giving a fresh look at the river’s flood management in its reach from Hathnikund Barrage up to Okhla Barrage,” reads the note.

Tasks to be performed, scope of study

Among the nine tasks Centre has identified for the committee include identification of drainage congestion in Delhi in case of high spate in river Yamuna, and development of a 2-D mathematical model for the reach of the Yamuna river from 10km upstream of Wazirabad barrage and up to 10km downstream of Okhla barrage for submergence area estimation. The panel will also prepare digital terrain models up to 200 metre on either side of the river from riverbanks using a combination of drone and hydrographic survey.

From Hathnikund barrage up to Okhla barrages, the Centre has proposed studies of 10 points. Prominent among them are detailed catchment representative rainfall analysis to compare floods of 1978 and 2023 and other years, carrying capacity of river between Hathnikund barrage and Okhla barrage and maximum water level at salient locations of the study river reach for 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100-year return period floods.

The committee will also study 2D modelling and submergence area estimation for the reach of the Yamuna river from 10 km upstream of Wazirabad barrage and up to 10 km downstream of Okhla barrage, and examining the feasibility of creation of storages for surplus floodwater in the floodplains of Yamuna and, thereafter, identification of such sites.