By IANS,
New Delhi : The Yamuna river Sunday breached its danger mark and submerged hundreds of shanties and areas in what is generally termed as the “vegetable belt” of the national capital. Nearly 1,200 people have been shifted to safer areas, officials said.
“The river is flowing at 205.28 metres (at 5.30 p.m.), which is well above the danger mark of 204.83 metres. But the level has remained constant,” Rakesh Khanna, officer in charge of flood control in Delhi, told IANS.
“Low-lying areas like Usmanpur, Sonia Vihar, parts of Okhla, Sultanpuri, and Garhi are submerged. We have rescued nearly 1,200 people so far. Large patches of lands generally used for vegetable and flower cultivation are completely under water,” he added.
Khanna said that though some people are reluctant to leave their homes, “we are persuading them shift to safe places”.
“At least 17 rescue boats are on the job and we have makeshift tents and relief camps for them. We are also providing them food and a team of doctors is available,” he said.
A flood warning was sounded in the capital Friday after continuous rainfall pushed up the water level in Yamuna. Haryana also released over 400,000 cusecs of water into the river upstream.
Last year, the water level reached 206 metres, leading to the evacuation of people from slum clusters along the river banks. The Delhi government has said it is fully prepared to tackle any situation.
However, authorities said that the situation will improve soon as the water level has not increased further after 1 p.m.
“The water level in the Yamuna remains constant with 29,592 cusecs of water for several hours,” a flood control official said.
There are several slum clusters in Yamuna banks and thousands of people are living in these low-laying areas.