Yamuna water level drops to 205.95m, expected to go down: Officials

The water level of Yamuna River continues to recede as the irrigation and flood control department stated that it has gone down below the 206 metres mark on Sunday morning. The officials from the flood control department said that a water level of 205.95m was recorded at 10:00am on Sunday and the downward trend is expected to continue.

“The forecast says that Yamuna is expected to go down below the danger level later in the night,” said an official familiar with the development. With Yamuna receding, the state agencies are trying to bring normalcy to the affected areas.

In a relief to the people of Delhi, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that the second affected water treatment plant at Chandrawal has been restarted. The Okhla plant was operationalised on Friday.

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The restoration of the Chandrawal plant will resume supply to the tune of 105 million gallons per day in assemblies falling in central Delhi like Rajender Nagar, Karol Bagh, Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk, Patel Nagar, Palam Vihar, Delhi Cantt and NDMC areas, said Delhi Jal Board vice-chairman Somnath Bharti.

Parts of central, north and west Delhi have been reeling under an acute water crisis as several water plants were flooded due to rising water levels in Yamuna, leading to the closure of Wazirabad, Chandrawal and Okhla water treatment plants.

As the Yamuna receded some of the waterlogging directly or indirectly was cleared up, allowing authorities to reopen several key roads that were shut for days.

While the situation in some waterlogged areas including the stretch from Kashmere Gate to Majnu Ka Tilla has improved, several areas including, Vikas Marg stretch near ITO, Rajghat, Salimgarh underpass, parts of Mukherjee Nagar, Yamuna Bazar, Hakikat Nagar and Jaitpur were still water-logged.

Some key routes, such as Vikas Marg, Metcalfe Café Road, ISBT, Sarai Kale Khan as well as some closed parts of the Ring Road and Boulevard Road were reopened, although there was still some water on these stretches.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecasted a generally cloudy sky with light to moderate rain and thundershowers for Delhi on Sunday with a yellow alert.

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Delhi Traffic Police have issued an advisory on traffic movement in the city. Traffic is still affected on the Ring Road due to the overflow of sewer water near the IP flyover from Rajghat to Nizamuddin carriageway.

“Commuters are advised to take alternate route via Shanti Van, Rajghat, JLN Marg, BSZ Marg to avoid the stretch,” the advisory states.

The movement on Bhairon Marg is restricted due to waterlogging under the railway bridge. Moreover, the Saturday evening rainfall has led to waterlogging at several places and a special drive was undertaken by New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) workers to flush out water from its areas.

Around 25,000 people have been displaced or affected by rising water levels of the river in the past week. The 22km stretch of the Yamuna in Delhi passes through six districts, parts of which are flooded by the river or due to the backflow of drains. The remaining five districts of the Capital have not been inundated by floodwaters.