The Yamuna continued to be in spate on Friday, with its waters making their way further into the city, flooding Rajghat and reaching the gates of the Supreme Court. The Army and the Navy were called in to assist the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and local civic agencies to stop the flow of river water into the city.
While the water level of the Yamuna dropped gradually through the day, coming down to 208.2 metres by 7 p.m. on Friday evening from its record high of 208.66 metres 24 hours earlier, it was still well over the danger mark of 205.33 metres that was breached on Monday.
River, drains flood city
The city administration had its hands full as the Indraprastha water regulator, located near the busy Income Tax Office junction and managed by the Irrigation and Flood Control Department, was itself damaged due to the river’s strong flow flooding areas in its vicinity. The back-flow of water from drains also flooded areas that were located away from the floodplains.
Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and its centrally-appointed Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena — who are usually at loggerheads with each other — visited affected areas and addressed the media together, with the L-G saying that it was “not a time to blame each other”, and that they are working as a team for the people of Delhi.
Political blame game
However, a blame game ensued away from the cameras, with Delhi Water and Flood Control Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj saying that officers were “not responding to his orders to call in an NDRF team to fix the broken regulator due to the ordinance brought in by the Central Government”. Sources in Raj Niwas said that Mr. Bharadwaj’s remarks were “uncalled for” and that the “NDRF is not responsible for carrying out regular engineering works”.
Politics also came to the fore as Delhi’s Aam Aadmi Party government accused Haryana’s BJP government of releasing water towards the capital from the Hathnikund Barrage, causing the flood-like situation, instead of the east and west canals that flow to Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. The BJP reacted by saying that the AAP was trying to mislead the public with such theories after failing to de-silt the Yamuna.
By evening, Mr. Kejriwal announced that one of the three water treatment plants that had been shut down due to the high water levels had been restarted, bringing relief to Delhi residents who had been told to prepare themselves for a shortage of clean water. The Raj Niwas issued a statement saying that the damaged water regulator had been fixed.
Drowned in rain-filled ditch
In an incident unrelated to the Yamuna, three teenage boys drowned while swimming in a rainwater-filled ditch in northwest Delhi’s Jahangirpuri area. The incident prompted Mr. Kejriwal to appeal to residents not to take selfies or go swimming in waterlogged areas.
The CM added that the rainfall forecast to lash Delhi over the next two days could hamper and delay efforts to return the city to normalcy.
