River water permeates city roads as swollen yamuna widens its embrace

River water permeates city roads as swollen yamuna widens its embrace

Outer Ring Road turns into canal; borders partially shut; schools, colleges to remain closed till Sunday; NDRF, Delhi Police continue rescue operations.

The national capital witnessed unprecedented scenes on Thursday after Yamuna waters left parts of the city submerged with the busy Ring Road resembling a canal. The Inter State Bus Terminal (ISBT) was inundated and boats were seen helping evacuate people. Educational institutions and non-essential government offices have been shut till Sunday and those working in private offices have been advised to work from home by the Delhi government.

As water began to gush in past midnight, it reached the walls of the Red Fort by morning and prominent areas like ITO, Kashmere Gate, stretch of Outer Ring Road between Rajghat and Manju Ka Tila, and Civil Lines could be seen completely inundated. Several vehicles were also seen partially or fully submerged in water and stranded on flooded roads. In central, north and eastern Delhi, water entered houses, government offices and shelter homes.

Rescue operations continued in low-lying areas with several teams of the NDRF and the Delhi Police evacuating people and cattle, and moving them to safer areas. According to an estimate by Delhi Police, around 37,000 people reside in these low-lying areas that are vulnerable to flooding. As many as 16 NDRF teams were deployed in the city, which rescued 1,349 stranded people and evacuated another 2,905 to safer places. The Delhi Fire Service (DFS) also rescued 434 people and several animals across the city. Meanwhile, Delhi Police came to the aid of 3,259 people and more than 400 animals in the North and North East districts, which are severely affected by floods.

Emergency meeting

At an emergency meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) chaired by Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena and attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, decisions were taken to shift people to nearby government schools and provide them with sufficient food, drinking water and toilets.

The DDMA announced that inter-State buses from Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttarakhand that terminate at the ISBT, Kashmere Gate, where services have been suspended, will be stopped at the Singhu border and passengers will be ferried by DTC buses from there.

Entry of all commercial vehicles has been restricted at Singhu, Bhopura, Chilla, Badarpur and Loni borders to ease traffic in the city. However, vehicles carrying essential commodities like medicine, vegetables, fruits, grains, milk, eggs, rice and tankers carrying petroleum products, will be allowed, an order from the Transport Department said.

Bhairon Marg, Rajghat, Ring Road opposite IGI stadium, Hanuman Setu, Monkey Bridge and Monastery Market were reportedly submerged in floodwater, making it difficult for commuters to travel.

However, there was some respite as the Pragati Maidan tunnel, which had been shut for five days due to waterlogging, opened to traffic. Vehicular traffic coming from the trans-Yamuna side and going towards Kashmere Gate was also restricted on the Signature Bridge due to heavy flooding between Majnu Ka Tila and Rajghat.

Traffic snarls

A traffic police officer said traffic was impaired at three locations—MG Marg between IP flyover and Chandgi Ram Akhara, between Kalighat Marg and Delhi Secretariat, and on Outer Ring Road between Wazirabad Bridge and Chandgi Ram Akhara.

ITO witnessed massive traffic snarls as most roads were shut due to waterlogging. Meanwhile, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) closed the Yamuna Bank metro station due to rising water level near the station. “However, interchange facilities are still available and services on [the] Blue Line are running normally,” the DMRC said in a tweet.