The torrential Yamuna in Delhi swelled to a staggering 208.48 metres Thursday morning, inundating nearby streets and public and private infrastructure, and causing immense hardships to people living in close proximity to the river.
The water level at the Old Railway Bridge crossed the 208-metre mark Wednesday night and rose to 208.48 metres by 8 am on Thursday. It is expected to rise further, according to the Central Water Commission, which has termed it an "extreme situation".
With the situation deteriorating every passing hour, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urged the Centre to intervene and the city police imposed Section 144 of the CrPC in flood-prone areas to prevent unlawful assembly of four or more people and public movement in groups.
Lt Governor V K Saxena has also called a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority on Thursday. In a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Kejriwal requested that the water from Hathnikund barrage in Haryana be released slowly and pointed out that Delhi is set to host the G20 Summit meeting in a few weeks.
"The news of flooding in the capital of the country will not send a good message to the world. Together we will have to save the people of Delhi from this situation," he said.
There are two major barrages on the Yamuna -- Dakpathar in Dehradun and Hathnikund in Yamunanagar, upstream of Delhi. There are no dams on the river and, therefore, most of the monsoon flow remains unutilised, resulting in floods during the season.
Delhi recorded a rapid increase in the Yamuna's water level over the past three days.
It shot up from 203.14 metres at 11 am on Sunday to 205.4 metres at 5 pm on Monday, breaching the danger mark of 205.33 metres 18 hours earlier than expected.
The river exceeded the evacuation mark of 206 metres Monday night, prompting the relocation of people residing in flood-prone areas to safer locations and the closure of the Old Railway Bridge for road and rail traffic. The water level breached the previous all-time record of 207.49 metres by 1 pm on Wednesday and the 208-metre mark by 10 pm.
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