New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has summoned an emergency meeting on Wednesday in light of the flood situation due to rising water level of Yamuna river. The meeting will take place in Delhi secretariat. In the meantime, section 144 CrPC has been applied by the Delhi Police in the areas that are susceptible to flooding in Delhi. The Yamuna river in Delhi surged to 207.25 metres and was flowing dangerously close to the highest-ever level of 207.49 metres recorded in 1978, government agencies said on Wednesday. As per the Central Water Commission’s (CWC) flood-tracking portal, the water level at the Old Railway Bridge crossed the 207-metre mark at 4 am, the first time since 2013, and rose to 207.25 metres by 8 am on Wednesday.
It is anticipated that the river will rise to 207.35 metres by 12 noon on Wednesday and continue to rise further, an official of the irrigation and flood control department said. Delhi witnessed a rapid rise in the Yamuna water level over the last three days. It jumped from 203.14 metres at 11 am on Sunday to 205.4 at 5 pm on Monday, crossing the danger mark of 205.33 metres 18 hours earlier than expected.
The river had surpassed the evacuation mark of 206 metres on Monday night, leading to the shifting of people living in flood-prone areas to safer locations and a closure of the Old Railway Bridge for road and rail traffic. The water level of 207.25 metres is the highest since 2013 when the river reached a level of 207.32 metres, the CWC data showed.
