New Delhi, Sep 21: The Old Yamuna Bridge, connecting east Delhi with the heart of the national capital, was shut for rail and road traffic early Tuesday morning after the water level in Yamuna rose dangerously.
"The Old Yamuna Iron Bridge has been closed as water level went above the danger mark," a senior police official said.
The traffic movement was closed following the rise in water level to 205.78 metre, which is 95 cm above the danger mark of 204.83 metres.
Officials fear that there could be further rise in the level when water released from Hathanikund Barrage in Haryana reaches the city.
Railways stopped train services on the old Yamuna bridge at around 3 am and are diverting all the trains bound for Old Delhi Railway Station and towards the eastern part of the country through other routes, a Railway official said.
27 local trains have been cancelled while 58 short distance trains like Farakka, Padmavati, Howrah Janata, Ranikhet and Lal Quila Express have been diverted.
The closure of the bridge resulted in diversion of traffic to a highway linking Delhi with Uttar Pradesh, which resulted in further choking of roads.
Overnight rains in the national capital brought down the mercury to a comfortable 24.4 degree Celsius on Tuesday though waterlogged roads created trouble for commuters in the morning.
The rain gauges measured 22.2 mm for a period of 24 hours till 8:30 am. Out of this, 19.9 mm of rains were recorded after 5:30 pm yesterday.
Rains resulted in waterlogging in many areas and slowed vehicular movement in places like Dhaula Kuan, ITO, Vikas Marg and parts of Ring Road. The humidity had touched a high of 100 per cent on Monday.
The city has been receiving rains since Sunday morning. Delhi has seen one of its wettest monsoons this year with the city receiving 1,033.6 mm of rains.
Dehra Dun : Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank on Monday made an aerial survey of parts of Uttarakhand hit by floods, landslides and cloudbursts and announced a relief of Rs one lakh to the next of kin of those killed in the natural calamity.
Nishank visited areas like Tehri, Haridwar, Nainital and Almora to asses the loss of lives and property.
At least 60 people have died and thousands others were rendered homeless due to incessant rains and floods during the past few days in the hill state.
Nishank said a total of 412 families in 25 villages have been affected in Tehri and Uttarkashi districts by the rising waters of Tehri dam.
He said over 8000 people have been evacuated to safer areas due to floods in the state. He also demanded a package of Rs 5000 crore from the Centre to tackle the situation, an official statement said.
Nishank directed the officials to make arrangements for reopening of all roads which have been blocked due to landslides. According to an estimate, nearly 1200 roads have been damaged so far.
He also directed the administration to provide all the essential commodities and said people should not suffer.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar said army helicopters would be pressed into service to drop food packets in the affected areas of the state on Tuesday.
Bareilly : The flood situation worsened further in the western districts of Uttar Pradesh with the death of four more persons in rain related incidents even as around 177 villages of Bareilly, Badaun, Pilibhit and Shahajanpur were inundated.
Meanwhile, Congress President Sonia Gandhi has arrived here to undertake an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas, officials said. "The Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who this morning undertook a tour of flood and cloudburst hit areas of Uttarakhand where 60 people have died and thousands rendered homeless in the past few days, will conduct an aerial survey of Bareilly, Moradabad and Rampur," they said.
With the release of 40,000 cusecs water from Kalagarh dam, river Ramganga has swelled further submerging 177 villages of Bareilly division, officials said.
Four persons have died in flood-related incidents in the region, they said. The National Highway 24, connecting Delhi with Lucknow, and Bareilly-Badaun road remained closed due to which several vehicles were stranded. Narain bridge on the Kiccha river has been washed away by strong water current.
AIR and Doordarshan centres in Bareilly have also been hit by flood, they said. Meanwhile, in Muzaffarnagar, the Pauri-Delhi National Highway has been closed for traffic due to floods.
Both, the rivers Ganga and Solani were flowing above the danger mark in the district. People in Maglispur Tofir, Sitabpuri, Maharajnagar, Khernagar Hasanpur Aluwala, Chuhapur, Reharwa, Ahmad Wala, villages have been evacuated by the PAC jawans to safer places. PTI
