Flood situation eases but more rain likely
Water levels in the Yamuna river in Delhi are receding, allowing for the reopening of roads and the resumption of normal operations for the Delhi Metro. The Delhi government is also providing financial aid to flood-affected families and plans to set up special camps for those who lost their identification documents. However, the city must not forget the lessons learned from this flood and must prepare for future climate-related disasters. Water supply to affected areas is expected to be restored from Monday.
The water levels in Yamuna continued to recede on Sunday, reaching below 206m, the level at which evacuations are ordered, and the irrigation and flood control department stated that the river is expected to drop below the danger mark of 205.33 later in the night, in an encouraging sign before the start of a new week when traffic is expected to return and people will look to resume work and business.
Delhi Traffic Police announced some more routes were being reopened, including Bhairon Marg and sections of the Ring Road, as waterlogging cleared up, and the Delhi Metro resumed normal operations.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that government is pumping out water from the remaining flooded areas and life is slowly returning to normal. He announced that the government will provide a financial aid of ₹10,000 to each flood-affected family and special camps will be set up for those whose Aadhaar cards and other documents were washed away.
“Poor families living on the banks of Yamuna have suffered a lot and in some families, the entire household goods were washed away. Ten thousand rupees per family will be given as financial help to every flood affected family. Children whose clothes and books were washed away, will be given these on behalf of the schools,” he added.
A government report said that 26,401 people have been evacuated, out of which approximately 21,504 people were still staying in across 44 camps.
The water level of the Yamuna stood at 205.56 metres at 8pm on Sunday. The level was 206.87 metres at the same time on Saturday. “We saw the impact of heavy rain in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, which led to a lot of water being released towards Delhi. As heavy rain is expected in the next two to three days in these two states, we may see a slight rise again,” a met official said, asking not to be named.
The past week was one of Delhi’s worst spells of flooding in decades and while the crisis may be abating, it must not be forgotten from a policy perspective. The climate crisis is predicted to make such episodes more intense and frequent and in order to prepare for that, the city’s administrators and policymakers must analyse every failure and missed opportunity. The national capital of India must not allow such an episode to recur.
Water supply to several parts of central, north and west Delhi, which was disrupted when plants had to shut due to the flooding, was expected to be restored from Monday.
The Delhi Jal Board restored operations of the second affected water treatment plant at Chandrawal on Sunday morning while efforts were on late night to fully restore the Wazirabad facility. DJB officials said Wazirabad facility has been partially restarted with pumping of water starting towards West Delhi.
This will help in restarting supply to areas falling in central Delhi: Rajinder Nagar, Karol Bagh, Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk, Patel Nagar, Palam Vihar, Delhi Cantonment and New Delhi Municipal Council areas. “Partial relief will be observed on Monday morning,” a DJB official said.
Barring portions of the Ring Road between Rajghat and Shanti Van, almost all arterial roads that were submerged by floodwaters were reopened by Sunday evening, the Delhi Traffic Police said.
However, the routes are likely to witness congestions during the Monday morning peak hours as they were still in ankle-deep water, requiring traffic to be in a single file.
In an advisory issued on Sunday evening, the traffic police stated that while entry to ISBT Kashmere Gate is closed, the road has been opened from ISBT to Civil Lines mall road.
The government on Sunday extended the closure of all government and private schools in areas bordering the Yamuna river till July 18, while the rest of the schools will open from Monday.
“As flood relief camps are likely to continue to run in schools in the areas bordering the river Yamuna, all schools (government and private) in the affected Districts of DoE — East, North East, North West-A, North, Central and South East — shall remain closed for students on July 17 and 18,” the Directorate of Education (DoE) said in a circular issued on Sunday.
The AAP-led Delhi government and BJP-led Haryana governments on Sunday continued to spar over the release of Yamuna water from the Hathnikund barrage and the cause behind the flooding in the national capital.
