Yamuna water level receding slowly, situation will normalise soon: Kejriwal

After wreaking havoc on lives and livelihoods in parts of Delhi close to it, the swollen Yamuna followed a downward trend on Saturday morning, albeit at a slow pace of a few centimetres per hour

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said the water level of the Yamuna in the national capital is receding slowly and the situation will normalise soon if there is no more heavy rainfall.

With several parts of the city still inundated, the chief minister also urged people to avoid waterlogged areas. Tagging a video of children playing in floodwaters in Delhi’s Shanti Van, he said, “I urge everyone to avoid this. It cud be fatal.” The chief minister further said that the water treatment plants at Wazirabad and Chandrawal will start functioning again by Sunday.

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“The water level of Yamuna is receding slowly. The situation will normalise soon if there is no more heavy rain. Water is being drained out of Wazirabad and Chandrawal treatment plants. The machines will be dried afterwards. Both the plants will be started by tomorrow,” he tweeted in Hindi. “Kindly follow precautions and help one another,” he added.

After wreaking havoc on lives and livelihoods in parts of Delhi close to it, the swollen Yamuna followed a downward trend on Saturday morning, albeit at a slow pace of a few centimetres per hour.

The breach at the Indraprastha regulator that flooded the area near ITO and parts of the Ring Road was sealed and the Delhi Traffic Police allowed the movement of cars, auto-rickshaws and other light vehicles on both carriageways of the Ring Road from Shanti Van to Geeta colony.

However, the road from Shanti Van to Rajghat and towards ISBT is still closed, the department said in a tweet.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) removed the speed restrictions on the movement of trains on the Yamuna bridges as the water level of the river receded. “Speed restriction imposed while crossing Metro bridges over Yamuna has been removed. All trains are running at normal speed now,” it said in a tweet.

Delhi Metro trains were crossing the four Yamuna bridges with a restricted speed of 30 kmph as a precautionary measure due to Yamuna’s rising water level, the DMRC said on Thursday. The four bridges are at Yamuna Bank (698.8 m on Blue Line), Nizamuddin (602.8 m on Pink Line), Kalindi Kunj (574 m on Magenta Line), and Shastri Park (553 m on Red Line).

Officials said the breach at the Indraprastha regulator was sealed by workers and Army personnel around midnight, with Delhi LG V K Saxena overseeing the work. The work of pumping out water that flooded areas around ITO, Ring Road and Mathura Road and restoring the regulator has been taken up, they said.

The Yamuna was still, however, flowing over two metres above the danger mark of 205.33 metres. The situation could worsen if weather predictions of more rain in the capital and upper catchment areas come true. According to the Central Water Commission’s flood-monitoring portal, the Yamuna water level declined to 207.62 metres by 7 am on Saturday from its peak of 208.66 metres at 8 pm on Thursday.

With the flow rate from the Hathnikund Barrage in Haryana’s Yamunanagar decreasing over the past two days, further decline is expected.