Haryna: Flood alert sounded as Yamuna flows above danger mark

Water in the Yamuna River on Monday crossed the danger mark after spells of heavy to very heavy rains lashed most parts of Haryana, forcing authorities to sound flood alert in low-lying areas along the river belt, including Yamunanagar, Karnal, Panipat and Sonepat.

The water at the Hathnikund barrage in Yamunanagar was flowing above the danger mark at 2.60 lakh cusecs till evening.

As per reports, the water level in the river had risen to the highest 3.09 lakh cusecs between 3am and 4 am on Monday.

The officials monitoring the level of water in the river said that the flow from 70,000 cusecs to 1.5 lakh cusecs is considered ‘low flood’, from 1.5 lakh cusecs to 2.5 lakh is called ‘medium flood’ and if the water flow in river crosses 2.5 lakh cusecs mark, it is considered as ‘high-flood’ situation.

They said that the flow of 1 cusec water in Yamuna is measured as 28.32 litres per second. By the evening, the flow of water in the river continued to remain around 2.70 lakh cusecs.

Officials predicted that the water flow may increase further as the water from Himachal Pradesh was likely to flow into the river by evening.

The water discharged from the Hathinikund barrage normally takes two to three days to reach New Delhi. Moreover, the flow of water in the Somb river, a tributary of the Yamuna that originates in the Shivalik hills, has also increased above the danger mark of 10,000 cusecs and reached 10,620 cusecs at Gadhwali bridge.

On Monday, the water of overflowing Yamuna river entered hundreds of acres of agricultural lands in the several villages of Karnal and Yamunanagar districts, adding to the woes of farmers, who were already reeling under the heavy rainfall for the past three days.

In Karnal, the water entered into the agricultural lands of Modipur, Shergarh Tapu, Tapu, Jadoli, Chora, Chorpura, Chandrao, Japti Chapra, Chaugama, Sayeed Chapra villages. The flood has also disconnected several villages of Haryana and UP as a bridge was submerged.

Karnal deputy commissioner Anish Yadav visited the affected villages and took the stock of the situation.

“We are in contact with the villagers. If there’s a need for evacuation, we will get it done and the alert has already been sounded in these areas,” Yadav said.

In Yamunanagar, in view of the increasing water level of the Yamuna River, the process of evacuation in the affected areas is being prepared.

Deputy commissioner Rahul Hooda said that the district administration is ready to deal with any situation and SDRF and NDRF teams have already been put on alert.

Khattar holds emergency meeting

Meanwhile, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar held an emergency meeting with the all the deputy commissioners via video conferencing to take stock of the situation.

The CM gave special directions to the deputy commissioners of Ambala, Panchkula, and Yamunanagar districts that they should ensure that no one goes near the rivers.

“The water level of Yamuna, Ghaggar and other small rivers is increasing continuously and hitting the danger mark because of continuous rains in Himachal Pradesh. Therefore, quick evacuation arrangements should be made to ensure that people living in the low-lying areas are timely vacated,” the chief minister said.

The water has inundated thousands of acres of standing paddy and sugarcane crops and added to the woes of farmers. According to the farmers, the floodwater could be harmful for the crops and vegetables it remains submerged for a couple of days.