Yamuna moves towards warning mark as Haryana releases water

The water level in the Yamuna rose close to the warning level on Monday, after Haryana released nearly 30,000 cusecs of water into the Hathnikund barrage in five stages starting midnight, flood control officials said.

The water level recorded at Delhi’s Old Railway Bridge was 204.38 metres, flowing close to the warning level of 204.50 metres. This was after 5,883 cusecs water was released from Haryana’s Hathinikund barrage at 8am, said officials of the Delhi government’s Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC) department. By 4pm, however, the water level had receded slightly and was at 204.30 metres.

The I&FC officials said the water level has not risen beyond 204.38 metres since 8am and, unless Haryana releases a high volume of water, the level is likely to remain below the warning mark.

Although the release of water into the barrage every four hours is a regular exercise, during the monsoon, the volume is exponentially higher, owing to rainfall in the hilly regions and the accumulation in the barrage.

According to flood control officials, at midnight Sunday, Haryana released 3,060 cusecs of water after which the level at the Old Railway Bridge touched 204.25 metres.

At 4am, 3,060 cusecs more was released and the level became 204.36 metres. Then at 8am, 5,883 cusecs was released after which the level rose to 204.38 metres, the closest it went to the warning mark. At noon, 10,231 cusecs more was released into the barrage, but by then, the water level had started receding and was recorded 204.26 metres. At 4pm, 7,330 cusecs more was released and the water level was recorded at 204.30 metres.

“Water is released into the barrage every four hours. On a regular basis, only 350 cusecs of water is released. During the monsoon, because of a higher volume of water in the barrage coupled with the rainfall in the hilly regions, more water is released, which leads to a surge in the Yamuna level. It takes about 36 to 72 hours for the released water to reach Delhi. We are continuously monitoring the water level,” Sanjeev Kumar, SDM (Preet Vihar) and officer-in-charge, Flood Control.

Last year, Haryana had released more than eight lakh cusecs of water a day, after which the water level had breached the danger mark of 205.33 metres. The river had inundated low-lying areas and evacuation and relief operations had to be launched by the Delhi government. The government had pitched over 1,300 makeshift tents to temporarily house those who were shifted out of flooded areas. The water level had hit a high of 206.60 metres, before it started receding.

Kumar said preparations are already underway in case a higher volume of water is released and evacuation operations are needed to be launched. “We have identified locations for pitching tents. But this time, since social distancing norms are prevalent on account of Covid-19, we have also identified schools where people can be housed while maintaining a physical distance of six feet from one another,” Kumar said.

Delhi had witnessed major floods in 1978 when the water level in the Yamuna rose to the highest ever level recorded of 207.49 metres.