Yamuna continues to flow near warning level in Delhi
The Yamuna was flowing close to the warning mark in Delhi on Wednesday morning and is likely to swell further with more water being released into it from the Hathnikund barrage in Haryana, officials said. The water level was recorded at 203.78 metres at the Old Railway Bridge at 8 am. Water was being released into the Yamuna at the rate of 13,433 cusecs at 8 am from the Hathnikund barrage, an official of the irrigation and flood control department said.
One cusec is equivalent to 28.32 litre per second.
The water level was recorded at 203.98 metres at 6 pm on Tuesday, precariously close to the warning level of 204.50 metres, according to the official.
The river had swelled to 204.38 metres on Monday, which was just a metre below the danger mark of 205.33 metres.
“The flow rate was 36,557 cusec at 5 pm on Tuesday, the maximum in the last 24 hours… The water level is likely to increase in the next 48 hours,” he said.
The water discharged from the barrage — which provides drinking water to Delhi — usually takes 72 hours to reach the capital.
Normally, the flow rate at the Hathnikund barrage is 352 cusec, but the discharge is increased after heavy rainfall in catchment areas.
More rains likely in Delhi
A cloud cover persisted over the national capital on Wednesday morning, with the weather department predicting light to moderate rain towards the evening. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to settle around 34 degrees Celsius and 26 degrees Celsius.
The India Meteorological Department had on Tuesday issued an alert for "moderate to heavy" rains in the national capital from Wednesday to Friday.
"Delhi-NCR is very likely to experience one or two spells of moderate rain from Wednesday evening/night to Friday afternoon, with heavy rainfall at isolated places on Thursday," it said.
The rain is likely to inundate low-lying areas and disrupt traffic on roads, it warned.
Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the regional forecasting centre of the IMD, said the monsoon trough will remain close to Delhi-NCR from Tuesday evening to Friday.
Delhi has recorded 213.3 mm rainfall against the normal of 221.8 mm in August so far, a deficiency of 4 percent.
Overall, it has gauged 531.9 mm precipitation against the normal of 497.9 mm since June 1, when the monsoon season starts, as per official data.
