Three boys aged between 10 and 13 drowned on Friday while taking bath in the Yamuna floodwaters in northwest Delhi’s Mukundpur area. These are the first reported deaths in the Delhi floods.
All the boys, aged between 10 and 12 years, were residents of Delhi’s Jahangirpuri area.
According to fire officials, a fire tender rushed to the spot after information was received at around 2:30 PM.
After breaching a 45-year record three days ago, the Yamuna water level receded on Friday going down to 208.20 metres at 5 PM, according to the Central Water Commission.
The water level in the river on Thursday started rising after staying stable for three hours and reached 208.66 metres by 7 pm, three metres above the danger mark of 205.33 metres. The water level in Yamuna at 4 pm on Friday stood at 208.23 metre.
Meanwhile, the Indraprastha water regulator was breached due to a strong current in the river, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said earlier in the day, during his visit to the site, along with Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena.
Even though the water level in the Yamuna is receding, the damaged regulator led the excess water at ITO and nearby areas, Kejriwal said.
Water from a bellowing Yamuna reached the entrance of the Supreme Court in central Delhi on Friday, a few metres away from the iconic India Gate. The Rajghat area was also flooded due to the backflow of a drain in the area, the CM added.
The flood-like situation in Delhi has also inundated crematoriums in the vicinity of the Yamuna. Crematoriums at Nigambodh Ghat, Geeta Colony, Wazirabad and Sarai Kale Khan have been closed in view of the flooding in various parts of Delhi, Mayor Shelly Oberoi said.
