Ghaziabad on alert as water discharge in Hindon rises by 5,200 cusecs in 24-hours

The Hindon level was 199.85m on Friday as opposed to 199.05m on Thursday, said officials. The danger mark in the river is 205.8m, said irrigation department officials

The district officials of Ghaziabad are on alert as 5,267 cusecs of water was discharged into river Hindon within the past 24 hours, raising concerns that a further rise in the river would submerge villages upstream of the river and also colonies developed on the floodplains.

The rise in the river level on Friday inundated localities near Karhera, including the Karhera city forest, forcing authorities to shut the facility indefinitely. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Officials of the Uttar Pradesh irrigation department said the river level rose after 8,115 cusecs of water was discharged into the Hindon on Friday, as opposed to 2,848 cusecs on Thursday, as measured at the Hindon barrage near Vasundhara at 8pm on Friday.

The discharge in the river was about 2,627 cusecs on Tuesday and it has risen steadily since then, said officials.

The Hindon level was 199.85m on Friday as opposed to 199.05m on Thursday, said officials. The danger mark in the river is 205.8m, said irrigation department officials.

“The waters in river Hindon has increased by 8,100 cusecs on Friday and that is a substantial increase for a single day. It is largely due to flooding in Saharanpur following heavy rain. The water level may rise further in the coming days. The 1,000 cusecs of water, which is released daily from the Upper Ganga Canal into river Hindon (through an escape at Jani in Meerut) has been stopped for now as the river already has heavy water discharge form rains,” said Binod Kumar Singh, executive engineer(Okhla), irrigation department.

“There are at least four villages upstream of the Hindon and river water has already inundated the floodplains and agricultural fields. We have asked residents to exercise caution as the water may rise further in the coming days. The assessment of loss of crop will also be made later and compensation will be provided to farmers,” said Vinay Kumar Singh, subdivisional magistrate (Sadar).

The river Hindon originates from the lower Shivaliks in Saharanpur district and flows for about 300km to meet river Yamuna near Momnathal in Gautam Budh Nagar.

In Ghaziabad, the river flow is regulated by the Hindon barrage which has a capacity of 100,000 cusecs before the water is channelled to the Vasundhara canal and the downstream Hindon areas of Kanawani and Chijarsi towards Gautam Budh Nagar.

The irrigation department officials said the river is still not expected to cause much flooding. The river saw its highest flood level of about 130,000 cusecs during the floods of 1978.

“So, the river still has comparatively less water at present,” Singh said.

Last week, Ghaziabad’s Loni had flooded after the Alipur embankment on the Yamuna floodplains suffered a breach on July 13. Repair works were completed on the night of July 15.

The Yamuna waters inundated several localities, along Tronica City industrial area and nearby residential areas. The authorities are now on high alert to prevent a similar situation arising out of of Hindon and flooding Sahibabad.