NEW DELHI: The dried-up river Yamuna is coming back to life near Wazirabad. A day after Hathnikund Barrage released water at the rate of 97,000 cubic foot per second (cusecs), the water level went up from the normal mark of 202.02m to 202.48m. Flood and irrigation department officials said there is no cause to worry as the increase is minimal and over two metres below the danger mark of 204.83m. However, the department has begun preparing for the monsoon and identified vulnerable spots along the river bank and set up wireless stations at 24 points.
The evening rain on Thursday added to the volume of water.
While those living on the riverbed, most of which is still dry, go about their daily chores, senior officials of the flood and irrigation department said they have started stocking relief material like wooden poles, wire mesh, boulders and empty cement bags to deal with any emergency.
Eight vulnerable points along the Yamuna embankments have been identified and locations that were affected during monsoons in 1993, 1994, 1995 and 2010 have been identified. These fall in areas covering Shahdara, Najafgarh, Mehrauli, Alipur and Kanjhawala. Some of the colonies from these sectors that have suffered during monsoon include Bawana Village, Madanpur Khadar, Okhla, Sarai Kale Khan, Jaitpur Extension, Sangam Vihar, Bijwasan Village, Geeta Colony and Gandhi Nagar.
While the highest rate of water release from Hathnikund stood at 97,000 cusecs on Wednesday, it had slowed down to 9,000 cusecs on Thursday. The officials expect the flow to reduce further.
"There is no cause for worry. Warning mark for floods is 204. The danger mark is 204.83 metres," a senior official said. Data available with the department shows that in 2010 the river crossed the danger mark and rose to 207.11. Before this, in 1978 the Yamuna touched a level of 207.49 as per data from 1963 onwards. But in 2010 the rate of discharge of water was higher than in 1978.
To deal with floods the state government has set-up an apex committee for supervision of operations. The apex committee, headed by chief minister Sheila Dikshit, will be assisted by a central flood control room. The nine districts of Delhi have been divided into nine sector offices with control rooms. These will be supervised by the six cabinet ministers. Social welfare minister Kiran Walia has been assigned south and New Delhi district, urban development minister Raj Kumar Chauhan will monitor operations in northwest and west district. Power minister Haroon Yusuf will supervise southwest district. Labour minister Ramakant Goswami is in charge of north and central district, transport minister Arvinder Singh will supervise northeast and revenue minister AK Walia will be in charge of east district.
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