The Yamuna is expected to be in its full fury on Wednesday

Apart from some worried Organising Committee officials, a stormy Yamuna may also welcome the players and officials expected in the city for the Commonwealth Games on Wednesday.


People watchu00a0 the rising water levels of the Yamuna in New Delhi.
PIC/Arjun Panwar

The hourly release from theu00a0 Hathni ka kund Barrage in Haryana on Sunday night and Monday morning broke all the records of water discharge. It was 1.96 lakh cusecs at 2 am on Tuesday.

At 3 pm 7.44 lakh cusecs of water was released from the barrage. At 4 am too it stood at 7.44 lakh cusecs and the same at 5 am.

"It is a record water discharge from the barrage and most worrying aspect is that similar quantity of water was released from the barrage continuously for three hours," a senior Delhi Government official said. The Central Water Commission has predicted that water level in Yamuna will touch 206.40 meters in Delhi on Tuesday eveningu00a0 at 5 pm.u00a0

The water would rise throughout the night and during the day and on Wednesday it is expected to be at a record high. However, by Thursday, the water level would start receding as during the day on Monday the water discharge from Haryana remained at around 3.5 lakh cusecs, said a flood department official.

Irrigation and Flood Department Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan convened au00a0 emergency high level meeting on Monday to review the situation of flood due tou00a0 record water discharged from Hathanikund Barrage in Haryana.
"It is for the first time that water into much quantity at once in the Yamuna during the last 100 Years," he said, adding there was no immediate flood threat to Delhi.u00a0

"Government has made adequate arrangements if flood situation arises in the low lying areas," the minister stated.
He also said by Wednesday evening, the water level could rise upto 207 meters as predicted by CWC and would remain static for some time.

The government on Monday shifted hundreds of people from Garhi Mandu, Usmanpur Pusta, Jagatpur Village and Shastri Nagar to relief camps. Over 3500 people shifted to relief camps set up by the government following flood-threat last week, are continuing to stay there. Chouhan said booster pumps have been installed in several areas along the river to pump out the water. However, he said, there is no threat to the Games Village even if the water level rises further.

The water level in Yamuna had touched 206.78 metres on September 11 following huge discharge by Haryana, submerging several localities along the river. Chouhan said the Irrigation and Flood Control Department has 85850 empty cement bags, 3582 cubic metres of stone, 11trucks and 422 life jackets to meet the challenge.

OPEN SKIES
Incessant rains lashed the capital which resulted in problems like waterlogging and traffic snarls. The humidity touched a high of 100 per cent during the day while the minimum was recorded at 81 per cent. However it did not have any effect on the weather as the city received 61.5 mm of rainfall since Sunday. "The rain gauges measured 2.3 mm between 8:30 am and 5:30 pm on Monday," a Met department official said. Maximum temperature remained 29.8 degrees Celsius . Traffic snarls were reported from places like Model Town, Dhaula Kuan, Mori Gate, Kashmere Gate, Azadpur, Najafgarh, Bhajanpura, Andheria Morh, Yusuf Sarai, Ring Road, Lodhi Road and Lala Lajpat Rai Marg.