Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has advised restraint from engaging in political blame games in the wake of the flood situation in the national capital and adjoining states.
“The flood is a natural calamity and politics should not be done on it. We cannot control water in the barrage. Water will automatically release from the barrage once it crosses the limit. The Yamuna had 1 lakh cusecs of water, which suddenly increased to 3.70 lakh cusecs the next day. As far as the release of water is concerned, we have told Arvind Kejriwal that we can control a limited amount of water in the barrage,” Khattar said in a statement.
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On Wednesday, Kejriwal penned a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, seeking the Centre’s help.
“Delhi is India’s capital. And in a few weeks, we are going to organise G20 meetings here. The news of a flood in the nation’s capital will not send a good message to the world. We have to save the people of Delhi together,” Kejriwal said, suggesting that the release of water from the Hathnikund Barrage in Yamunanagar, Haryana was responsible for the Delhi deluge.
To which, Haryana Education Minister Kanwar Pal, on Thursday responded: “When there are floods or heavy rains as we saw in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh and even in our state in the last few days, there is no option but to release water. If we hold the water, the situation will be disastrous.”
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Pal said the Hathnikund barrage in Haryana’s Yamunanagar district does not have a mechanism to store large volumes of water like a reservoir, adding that if water is held in the barrage beyond a permissible limit, a “bigger damage” could be caused.
Yesterday, the water level of the Yamuna reached a record-breaking 208.66 meters, exceeding the previous highest level of 207.49 meters recorded in 1978.
However, there has been a slight decrease in the water level earlier today. This relief, although minor, offers hope to the affected areas and authorities involved in managing the flood situation.