New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday announced that evacuation of people from low-lying areas around Yamuna will start once the river touches the 206-metre mark while assuring the people that experts have said the flood situation might not arise in the national capital.
After holding a meeting over the torrential rains and the rising Yamuna water levels, Kejriwal addressed a press conference, stating that the government was closely monitoring the situation and was fully prepared to tackle it. "The unprecedented rain caused problems to people and Delhi's system was not able to withstand it. Every year after rainfall, some vulnerable areas are waterlogged and the water is drained out in a couple of hours. But the 153 mm of rainfall was unprecedented and an event which happened in nearly 40 years," he said.
The Yamuna on Monday inched closer to the warning mark in Delhi as Haryana released more water into the river from the Hathnikund barrage amid persistent rains in the upper catchment areas. According to a flood bulletin, the water level at the Old Railway Bridge increased from 203.18 metres at 1 pm on Sunday to 203.58 metres at 10 am on Monday. The warning level is 204.5 metres.
The water level is anticipated to rise to 205.5 metres between 10 am and 12 noon on Tuesday, crossing the danger mark of 205.33 metres. The chief minister said they were in touch with the Central Water Commission and asserted that weather predictions indicate that even though there will be more rains, they would not be quite heavy.
"Due to rains, there might have been some potholes that could have formed on roads. They will be filled with stones to avert any untoward incident. We have also ordered an inquiry into incidents of road cave-in. The area under New Delhi Municipal Council, a VVIP area, witnessed waterlogging. We have asked them (NDMC) to resolve the issues," he said.
On the flood situation, IMD scientist Soma Sen said, "We're expecting upto 12 cm rainfall in Delhi, it might be more, we're monitoring... there is a yellow alert for Delhi today...tomorrow onwards we're expecting rain to decrease slightly over the north-west Himalayan region..." Two days of torrential rains in the national capital led to waterlogging in several parts with knee-to-ankle-deep water in areas of Connaught Place, Noida, Gurugram and in several areas on Sunday.
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