Yamuna recedes in Delhi, those evacuated people start returning to the floodplains

With the water level receding, several people who had to be evacuated from their homes and given shelter at camps set up by the government, have started returning to the floodplains.

After a gap of almost a week, water level in the Yamuna river is almost back to its normal state. While the Yamuna has already come out of the ‘danger level’ of 204.8 metres, it was expected to drop below the ‘warning level’ of 204 metres by Friday.

A view of the Yamuna River at Old Iron bridge on Thursday, August 2, 2018. (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

Around 7pm on Thursday, the water level stood at 204.22 metres. It had touched a five-year peak of 206.5 metres on Tuesday evening. Before the flood scare, the water level at Yamuna stood at 203.36 metres at 9pm on July 25.

K Mahesh, district magistrate of east Delhi, said, “The water level is receding fast. It is expected to drop below the 204-metre mark by Friday.”

With the water level receding, several people who had to be evacuated from their homes and given shelter at camps set up by the government, have started returning to the floodplains. Traffic, too, resumed at the old iron bridge from Thursday evening.

Alok Kumar, joint commissioner of police (traffic), said, “We opened the old iron bridge for traffic movement around 5pm after we received permissions from the authorities concerned.”

Government officials, meanwhile, said that although there is a risk of outbreak of enteric and water-borne diseases following a flood, no such case has been reported as yet. The government and civic agencies said they have undertaken all kinds of measures — including sprinkling of bleaching powder and anti-larval spray and distribution of ORS pouches — to prevent the outbreak of disease.