After touching an all-time high of 208.66 metres on Thursday, the water level at Yamuna river receded marginally on Friday. The water level has reduced to 208.4 metres on Friday and the Central Water Commission has predicted a further dip in the coming hours, albeit slow.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal visited some affected areas in the capital including Vikas Bhawan, ITO where a drain regulator was damaged. The Chief Minister said that water had entered different areas of the Delhi due to different reasons.
“Here (ITO) – due to a breach (of drain regulator), at RajGhat due to backflow of water from a drain and at several other locations due to overflow of River Yamuna.”
Kejriwal had tweeted earlier in the day that he has directed the Chief Secretary to seek the help of the Indian Army and the NDRF to fix the breach that is causing the flooding of the ITO and its surroundings.
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“This breach is causing flooding of ITO and surroundings. Engineers have been working the whole nite (sic). I have directed the Chief Secretary to seek help from the Army/NDRF but this should be fixed urgently,” he tweeted earlier.
The city adjacent to Yamuna has since been inundated with knee-deep water at several places. This has prompted the authorities to close all schools and colleges till July 16 and restrict the entry of heavy goods vehicles engaged in non-essential activities.
The Delhi Traffic Police on Thursday had also issued an advisory as Yamuna water level increased and affected the usual traffic movement.
The movement of commercial vehicles was also restricted. Non-destined vehicles were not allowed to enter the city. Other commercial vehicles were also diverted in order to avoid any disruption in traffic movement.