Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday called an emergency meeting after Haryana released around five lakh cusec of water from the Hathnikund barrage into the Yamuna, posing a flood threat in the national capital. "Haryana has released 5 lakh cusec water. Called an emergency meeting to discuss the situation," the CM tweeted. According to officials, the river water level at the Hathnikund barrage has crossed the red mark of 90,000 cusec and till 5 pm, 5,03,935 cusec of water was released into the river. With continuous downpour, this level is likely to rise further, the officials added. Authorities were forced to evacuate people residing in low-lying areas when the water level of the river at the Old Delhi Railway Bridge reached 205.20 metres above the red mark. "The water level of river Yamuna at Delhi Old Rly Bridge reached at 204.92 metres at 7 am on July 28 (above the warning level) and having rising trend," a statement said earlier in the day. An alert was sounded by the Delhi government on Friday, after the water level of the Yamuna crossed the danger mark, the official said. "All executive engineers/sector officers are directed to keep in close contact with the control room in relation to the discharge, water level at the Old Railway Bridge and the advisory or forecast from the Central Water Commission/MET, and requested to take appropriate measures/steps accordingly to avoid flood-like situation," an advisory from the authorities said. "The CWC, Upper Yamuna Division, New Delhi has issued flood forecast for the Delhi Railway Bridge (North Delhi Dt NCT, Delhi). The water level of river Yamuna at Delhi Rly Bridge was 205 metres at 9 am on July 28 (warning level 204.00 m)," the advisory added. A low-pressure area over western Uttar Pradesh and its neighbourhood is expected to result in widespread rainfall with isolated 'heavy to very heavy rainfall' over Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and northwest Madhya Pradesh during the next two days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. 49 killed in UP rains Meanwhile, as many as 49 people have lost their lives in several incidents caused by heavy rains in Uttar Pradesh since Thursday. While six deaths each have been reported from Agra and Meerut, four have died in Mainpuri, three in Kasganj, two each in Bareilly, Baghpat and Bulandshahr and one each in Kanpur Dehat, Mathura, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Rae Bareli, Jalaun, Jaunpur, Pratapgarh, Banda, Firozabad, Amethi, Kanpur and Muzaffarnagar a spokesperson of the Relief Commissioner’s Office told PTI. CM Yogi Adityanath has directed officials to be on alert and undertake extensive tours in the affected areas.
