Floods threaten to submerge the Commonwealth village, leaving players and visitors with no place to stay
Floods threaten to submerge the Commonwealth village, leaving players and visitors with no place to stayFor years the Yamuna has been raped. It is her turn now.
The river is threatening everything that has encroached upon its territory, most prominent among them being the Commonwealth Games village.
Here today, gone tomorrow: Experts have warned that the rampant
construction activity in the Yamuna riverbed are doomed. pic/mid dayu00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0
Top environmentalists have warned that if the rising Yamuna continues to swell at the present rate, it would wash away all the structures erected in the riverbed as part of the preparations for the mega sporting event.
"The recent flood in the river is the result of large-scale encroachment of the Yamuna riverbed. We had warned the government before it took up construction of the village and other structures, but it did not pay heed to our demands," said Magasaysay award winner and the face of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan Rajender Singh.
Activists led by Singh had been opposing allocation of land for the Commonwealth Games village, Akshardham Temple and Delhi Metro depot in Shastri Park.
"So far only 3.5 lakh cusecs of water has been released into the river. But it is still raining in the hills. When the released water will reach 5 lakh cusecs, the Metro depot, Games village and Akshardham will be washed away in the river," said water activist and convenor of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan and former naval officer Manoj Mishra.
"There is only one thing which the government will do now to counter such a situation. They will divert Yamuna water into the villages upstream to save the city. But such a move will affect thousands of villages and a large tract of land under cultivation," claimed Mishra.
In 2007 and 2008, when the construction work on the riverbed for Delhi Metro and Games village started, the city had faced large protests from environmentalists. The activists had then approached the court also, however, the court ruled in the favour of the government.
When asked if the large scale water-logging on Wednesday is due to encroachment on the river bed, he said: "The administration had to close the sluice gates to all the major drains of the city to prevent back flow of the water into the city. Had there not been any encroachment on the riverbed, the water level could not have gone this high. It is because of the encroachment," added Mishra.
"When you invite trouble, be ready to face it," Mishra added. He also points out that the current water level is not yet a threat for either the Games Village or the Metro depots and other big structures, which have come up on the riverbed.
"There is protected embankment to counter this level of flood in Yamuna for these structures. But areas like the Tibet market, Burari, and Batla House where no such embankment has taken place is inundated," added Mishra.
More trouble in store?
The officials said that for next two days water level will go down but again by Friday night or Saturday, the water level would start further rising as due to heavy rains, for the past two days, nearly every water discharge from the Hathni ka barrage has been nearly 2 lakh cusecs which will create flood like situation in Delhi.
Polluted YamunaYamuna, is one of the most polluted rivers of the country.u00a0
The real problem begins when the river reaches the Hathinikund barrage in Haryana. At Tajewala, the river waters are divided into two parts -the Western Yamuna Canal (WYC) and the Eastern Yamuna Canal (EYC) that divert its waters into Haryana and UP. Except a seasonal stream, Som Nadi, which joins Yamuna near Sahranpur, and the heavily polluted river Hindon that joins it south of Greater NOIDA in UP, till it meets the Chambal, the Yamuna is largely a drain that carries sewage from cities, agricultural fields and people who live on its banks. The situation becomes worse after it leaves Delhi at Okhla. After Okhla, water is diverted into the Agra canal and the river just carries sewage from Vrindavan, Mathura and Agra. The Government has spent close to Rs 1400 crore under the National River Conservation Plan to create sewage facilities. However, it has gone down the drain. YAP-I was declared closed in February 2003.u00a0 YAP-II commenced in December 2004 at an approved cost of Rs 624 crore of which major position of the outlay of Rs 387.17 crore is for Delhi.
WaterworldThe Capital city witnessed one of the worst floods in the recent times on Wednesday. Thousands of those living along riverbed were evacuated and water entered in several parts of the city, creating traffic havoc. To aggravate the problem, the city administration closed down the sluice gates to 15 drains, which fall into the river to avoid Yamuna water entering the city.
However, much to their surprise peak hour brief spell of heavy showers, filled the canals, colonies, roads and large parts of the city remained deluged and traffic chaos was witnessed throughout the day.u00a0
The old Yamuna Bridge in Krishna Park was closed down as the water was overflowing. Thousands of people living along the river have been asked to leave from their localities. The people living in Monastery area near ISBT, Kashmiri gate, Batla House, Garhi Mandu village and Jaitpur, Usmanpur, Chilla gaon, Okhla, Chirag Ghat, Yamuna bazaar, Nazjafgarh and Shahdara were evacuated.
Thousands of families have taken shelter along the bank of Yamuna in relief camps, police and flood and irrigation department officials were guarding the riverbank.
Flood department official said, a maximum of 205.95 meters of water level was recorded in the city which is expected to fall down to 205.85 meters by tomorrow afternoon. " The water level in the river is expected to fall for next two days as the water discharge from Hathni ka Barrage has remained below one lakh cusecs in the past two days," said the official.u00a0
