Delhi govt restarts Okhla water treatment plant as Yamuna River water levels recede: CM Arvind Kejriwal

Delhi flood: Delhi government restarted the Okhla water treatment plant as Yamuna water levels recede, informed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today (July 14). The government had announced the closure of three water treatment plants- Wazirabad, Chandrawal and Okhla- due to the rising water levels in the Yamuna following days of heavy rains in Delhi and the upper catchment areas. Due to the closure of the plants, many areas in the national capital were facing a water shortage.

"With receding water levels, we are starting Okhla water treatment (plant). (I) Am reaching there to take stock," Kejriwal tweeted. He is also expected to visit the Wazirabad water treatment plant.

After breaching a 45-year record three days ago, water levels in the Yamuna in Delhi came down to 208.25 metres at 3 pm on Friday even as several key areas in the city were inundated. According to Central Water Commission (CWC) data, the water level stood at 208.57 metres in the early hours of Friday and fell marginally to 208.48 metres at 5:00 am.

The water level in the Yamuna was 208.42 metres at 8 am, 208.38 metres at 10 am and 208.35 metres at 11 am. It went down further to 208.27 metres at 1 pm and 208.25 metres at 3 pm. The Yamuna in Delhi swelled to 207.71 metres on Wednesday, breaching its all-time record of 207.49 metres set in 1978.

Delhi CM vs L-G statements on flooding:

The ongoing flooding woes in the national capital brought Delhi CM Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, who have been trading barbs in the recent past, together as the two briefed the media jointly on the prevailing situation, saying, "We need to work as a team".

Flanked by CM Kejriwal, ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj, L-G Saxena on Friday inspected a flooded stretch near Vikas Bhawan, ITO where a drain regulator was damaged.

The L-G was responding to minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, who said the NDRF team reached the spot only on Friday, even after several requests to the officers last night."Thank you, the situation would have been better had the NDRF reached the spot last night itself," Bharadwaj said.

L-G Saxena said, “I would like to tell you that this is not the time to resort to a blame game or point fingers at each other. Right now, we need to work as a team. I, too, can say a lot of things but this isn't what we should do at this time."

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