By IANS,
New Delhi : With continued rain, hundreds of people from several slum clusters along the banks of the Yamuna in Delhi were evacuated as the river was flowing three feet above the danger mark, a top official said Sunday.
“The river is flowing nearly 40 centimetres (3.3 feet) above the danger mark. We have sounded an alert across the Yamuna embankment,” Delhi Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta told IANS.
In Delhi, the danger level for the river is 204.88 metres.
“We have already evacuated people from nearly five slum clusters, mainly in east Delhi,” he said.
He said the Delhi government has already blocked a few major drains flowing into the river.
“We have blocked the gates to stop the back flow of flood water. We hope the water will recede from Monday evening,” Mehta said, adding that drain waters were being pumped out to maintain pressure and overflowing.
Heavy rains in the last one week and release of river water by neighbouring Haryana and Himachal Pradesh have worsened the situation in Delhi.
In the last three days, Himachal Pradesh has released 100,000 cusecs of water and Haryana has released nearly 140,000 cusecs of water.
Authorities said they have set up control rooms in several places, especially in east and north Delhi, to keep a tab on the water level of the river.