For the first time this monsoon, water discharge from Haryana's Hathnikund Barrage has breached the 50,000 cusecs mark, raising concerns about a potential spike in Yamuna water levels in the national capital.
According to the Central Water Commission (CWC), the peak discharge touched 54,707 cusecs at 1 AM on Tuesday.
Water released from the barrage typically takes 48 to 50 hours to reach Delhi, with the Old Railway Bridge serving as the primary monitoring point.
At 5 pm on Tuesday, water levels at the bridge were recorded at 202.24 metres -- still below the warning level of 204.50 metres, but expected to rise.
"This is the first instance this season of discharge exceeding 50,000 cusecs, and with rainfall likely to continue in the upper Yamuna basin, we could see further increase in the river's level in the next couple of days," said Bhim Singh Rawat, a Yamuna activist and member of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP).
CWC data shows the flow surpassed the 50,000 cusecs threshold around 9 PM on Monday, remaining above that level for four hours before falling to 48,974 cusecs at 2 am.
{{/usCountry}}CWC data shows the flow surpassed the 50,000 cusecs threshold around 9 PM on Monday, remaining above that level for four hours before falling to 48,974 cusecs at 2 am.
{{/usCountry}}Last year, despite intense rainfall, Delhi narrowly missed touching the warning level, with the Yamuna peaking at 204.38 metres in late September.
In contrast, the catastrophic floods of July 2023 saw record water levels of 208.66 metres and peak discharge from Hathnikund touching 3.59 lakh cusecs. Areas like Mayur Vihar, ITO, Salimgarh bypass and Civil Lines were inundated, displacing thousands.
As per the Delhi government's flood control plan, a first warning is officially triggered only when discharge from Hathnikund exceeds 1 lakh cusecs -- a mark still far off for now.
"Once that threshold is crossed, sector-level control rooms will activate, boats will be deployed, and vulnerable areas will be placed under surveillance," according to this year's order by the Irrigation and Flood Control department.