Yamuna alert for Games

New Delhi, Sept. 9: The Yamuna has risen above the danger mark casting a shadow on the Commonwealth Games village situated on its flood plains.

A high-level meeting of senior officials of the Delhi government was called this afternoon to take stock of the situation and some of them were concerned about the closeness of the Games village to the banks of the Yamuna. It might get flooded if the water level keeps rising.

But Rakesh Mehta, Delhi government chief secretary saw no need to panic. “There is no danger to the Commonwealth Games village from the rising waters of the Yamuna. We have already made the necessary arrangements and there are two embankments along the bank before water reaches the Games village,” Mehta said.

“We have also evacuated 99 per cent of the people living in low-lying areas and they have been shifted to safer places and the situation is under control,” he added.

The alert was issued after the Yamuna breached the danger level of 204.7 metres. It is likely to rise by at least four to five metres above the danger mark by tomorrow evening because Haryana has released over 8 lakh cusecs of water from the Hathnikund dam.

An official in the irrigation department said additional boats and pumps have been arranged for and all low-lying areas facing the danger of flooding had been cleared.

A government official said the water from Haryana would reach Delhi by tomorrow afternoon and the Yamuna level may even rise up to 207 metres.

Describing the situation a matter of “serious concern”, a government official said all departments had been put on alert. Over 100 booster pumps were fitted along the banks of the river to pump out water that may enter the low-lying areas.

Five districts in Haryana are also on flood alert.

The capital witnessed the worst floods in 1978 when Delhi was swamped by seven lakh cusecs of water released from the same Haryana dam.

Today, the excess water released from Hathnikund has already caused a breach near the Markanda river, damaging a portion of the Ambala-Saharanpur National Highway and inundating over 20 villages in Yamunanagar, Haryana.


The Telegraph