New Delhi: The raging Yamuna showed signs of calming on Friday but the breach in a drain regulator led to waterlogging in some parts of Delhi such as the ITO, with flood water reaching close to the Supreme Court complex, causing hardship for the people. Water also entered the Mahatma Gandhi memorial at Rajghat due to backflow from a drain in the area.
Three boys drowned while bathing in the floodwaters in northwest Delhi’s Mukundpur Chowk area. These were the first deaths reported in the city since the Yamuna water crossed the danger mark last Monday.
While Delhi Fire Services Director Atul Garg claimed the deaths occurred in a ditch at a metro construction site, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) issued a clarification, saying, “No such incident has been reported from our sites.” “DMRC’s sites are properly barricaded and entry is strictly regulated only for authorised personnel,” it said.
After breaching the 45-year-old record three days ago, water levels in the Yamuna in Delhi came down to 208.02 metres at 10 pm on Friday. However, that did not stop the floodwaters from reaching central Delhi, the nerve centre of the national capital.
As the Yamuna water level reduced, the Okhla water treatment plant, which was shut on Thursday, was opened.
In the evening, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the Wazirabad and Chandrawal water treatment plants will resume functioning if the Yamuna level goes down to 207.7 metres on Saturday.
The Irrigation and Flood Control Department’s regulator installed near the Indraprastha bus stand and the WHO Building was being repaired with sandbags, braces and boulders. Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena took stock of the repair works.
Following the breach, water started to flow into the city through the drain, inundating the Ring Road, Indraprastha Metro Station, IP Depot, ITO and Vikas Marg, reaching the entrance of the Supreme Court in central Delhi.
Vikas Marg, one of the important stretches connecting east and Central Delhi, was closed for traffic as vehicular movement went haywire and commuters got stuck for hours in traffic jams.
Delhi Cabinet minister Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged there was a delay in the deployment of the NDRF for repairing the regulator even as the L-G asked him not to indulge in a blame game.
Interrupting Saxena during his media address, Bhardwaj said he reached out to the officers last night, asking them to deploy NDRF teams to make the repairs but “there was no response”.
“This is the time for teamwork, not blaming each other. I could say a lot of things too, but it’s not necessary at the moment,” the L-G said.
The IMD issued a ‘yellow’ alert for Saturday as it predicted moderate rain and thundershowers for that day.
