New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said the capital was likely to face water shortage as flooding from the swelling Yamuna had shut the Yamuna, Wazirabad, Chandrawal and Okhla water treatment plants.
The level at the Yamuna rose to a record 208.48 metres Thursday morning, flooding nearby streets and public and private infrastructure, and marooning the Delhi Secretariat.
Metro trains running on the four bridges above the Yamuna were also slowed to a speed of 30 kilometres per hour as a precautionary measure.
The levels are expected to rise further, according to the Central Water Commission, which has termed it an “extreme situation”.
#WATCH | Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal speaks on the flood situation in the city, in the wake of rise in water level of River Yamuna.
He says, "…I would like to request people to not step out if it is not essential and resort to Work From Home. We have closed the schools in… pic.twitter.com/GjAWLeSODs
— ANI (@ANI) July 13, 2023
Kejriwal also urged the Centre to impose Section 144 in flood-prone areas to prevent the assembly of four or more people and public movement in groups.
Since Wednesday evening, the government evacuated thousands of people from flood-prone areas, and even shut schools Thursday.
Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena has also called a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority today while almost a dozen teams of the National Disaster Response Force are on the ground.
Low-lying areas in Delhi are being flooded from the continuous release of water from Haryana’s Hathnikund barrage which is dealing with torrential rains upstream in the worst-affected Himachal Pradesh.
Kejriwal had asked the Centre to stop the Hathnikund release but was told that the excess water needed to be discharged to manage the situation in Himachal and Haryana.
There are two major barrages on the Yamuna upstream of Delhi — Dakpathar in Dehradun and Hathnikund in Yamunanagar, upstream of Delhi.
Since there are no dams on the river, most of the monsoon flow remains unutilised, resulting in floods during the season.
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