Yamuna swells, floods parts of Delhi

NEW DELHI - The Yamuna continued to rise menacingly Saturday and flooded several areas in populous east and north Delhi including the city’s busiest bus terminus.

With Haryana releasing more and more water into the river upstream, the Yamuna water entered the otherwise busy Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT), the capital’s oldest bus station in Kashmere Gate.

According to the flood control department, the Yamuna level rose to 206.6 metres, 177 cm above the danger mark.

“It may go up further if Haryana releases more water,” an official warned.

The river hit hard both low-income and middle class colonies located close to the river bank.

Low-lying areas like Garhi Mandu, Usmanpur Pusta, Jagatpur village and Shastri Nagar were inundated, officials said.

Fields close to the middle class district of Mayur Vihar Phase-I were flooded, the officials said, adding that hundreds of labourer living there had pitched tents along a main road.

“Around 1,500 people living near the ITO bridge were shifted to tents supplied by the municipal corporation,” B.S Gautam, division warden of the flood department, told IANS.

Officials here say that Haryana was expected to release 30,000 cusecs of water in the Yamuna.

Amid warnings that Delhi could see the most severe flooding since 1978, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit asked people not to panic.

Around 100 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel have been deployed to assist the authorities.

In 1978, more than 250,000 people were affected when the river flooded large areas in the capital’s northern and eastern districts through which the Yamuna flows.