Yamuna continues rising, Dikshit says no need to worry

NEW DELHI - Fears of a flood in the national capital loomed large Friday with the Yamuna flowing above the danger mark and expected to rise further, but Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said there was no need to worry and the “situation was under control”.

The water level in the Yamuna reached the 205.60 meter mark Friday morning and is expected to breach 206 meters by evening, well over the danger mark. The river waters crossed the danger level 204.83 Thursday evening.

As old-timers recalled the 1978 floods when the river had crossed 207.48 meters, affecting more than 250,000 people, the government said there was no reason for worry.

“The situation is under control, don’t worry,” Dikshi told reporters on the sidelines of a function. “The amount of water which was to reach Delhi from Haryana has fortunately not reached Delhi.

“I along with flood control minister Raj Kumar Chauhan are monitoring the situation following the release of over six lakh cusec of water. People have been evacuated from low lying areas and shifted to camps put up by the Delhi government. Food is also being provided to them,” she added.

According to Deputy Commissioner, East Delhi, S.S. Ghonkrokta: “No area of Delhi is under any flood threat.

“The panic is unnecessary. Delhi is totally safe. The water is coming and flowing downstream. There is some impact but it is limited only to river bed,” Ghonkrokta told IANS.

Areas that had been flooded in 1978 included low lying colonies like Batla House, Garhi Mandu, Yamuna Bazaar, Nigambodh Ghat, Shastri Park, Madanpur Khadar, ITO, Rajghat, Daryaganj, Model Town and Mukherjee Nagar as well as settlements along the river bank.

However, government officials rejected the contention that these areas are under threat stating that the embankments of the river were higher that what they were in 1978.

“The embankments were not so strong in 1978. Now we have roads over the embankment. Unless the embankment is damaged, there is no threat of flood,” Ghonkrokta said, blaming the media for panic. “There can be some waterlogging in the lower areas, but no flood.”

An official of the irrigation and flood control department detailed the government’s emergency measures.

“Nearly 74 boats and 68 divers are ready. Besides, we have 85,850 empty cement bags, 3,582 cubic meters of stone, 11 trucks and 422 life jackets to meet the challenge.”

More than six lakh cusecs of water was released from the Hathni Kund Barrage in Haryana Wednesday. That has resulted in the river rising four to five centimetres every hour.

The river bed, where cultivation takes place during dry months, had been totally evacuated last month after the first flood alert.

“The people who cultivate on the Yamuna bed are not supposed to be there during the four months of monsoon, according to the agreement through which they have been given the land for cultivation,” said Ghonkrokta.

Dikshit had said Thursday that only half the water released by Haryana had reached Delhi.

According to the government, over 100 booster pumps were fitted along the banks of the river to pump out water which may enter the low-lying areas.