Delhi News: PM Modi inquires about flood situation in national capital; Yamuna water level starts receding

A total of 88 people have lost their lives in the state since June 24 as rain continues to hit Himachal, an official statement issued by Himachal Pradesh state disaster management authority (HPSDMA) said on Wednesday.

"So far the total number of human losses since June 24 number is 88, and the total number of people missing is 16 (Road Accident-5, Drowning-6, Flash Flood-2, Landslide-02, Slippage-01)," HPSDMA said.

The HPSDMA said that a total injured of 100 people had been injured in the state along with 170 houses being permanently damaged. (PTI)

Even as rain continues in parts of Himachal, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday said that mobile network connectivity had been restored in Manali.

After BSNL Mobile, Landline, and FTTH services were restored in Manali on Wednesday, CM Sukhu said that efforts were under way to restore the network in Kasol.

The chief minister also said that around 50 per cent of stranded tourists had been evacuated from the flood-hit regions and added that the government's priority was to safely evacuate tourists. (ANI)

Forty stranded foreign nationals, including 14 Russian citizens, who were stranded in the flood-ravaged state were rescued to safer locations, said an official on Wednesday.

Confirming this to ANI, the officiating director general of police, Satwant Atwal Trivedi, said of those 2000 rescues, 40 were foreign nationals, including 14 Russian citizens in Kasol. Some of them were rescued from other parts of the Kullu and Lahaul-Spiti districts of the state.

Himachal Pradesh's acting director general of police (DGP) Satwant Atwal Trivedi on Wednesday said that 13 bodies were recovered from Beas River in Kullu district.
Acting DGP said that the recovered bodies were yet to be identified.

While speaking to ANI, Acting DGP said, "Yes I got information from the SP Kullu that 13 bodies were recovered by the police in Beas River in Kullu and the identification process is on, we need to send them for postmortem and I will not be able to comment much on this until we don’t have confirmation of identification".

She further stated that many people in the state have contracted the district administration and police authorities and over 40 foreign nationals have been rescued.

Over 300 cattle, including calves, living in two separate cowsheds were evacuated to safety as water from the Yamuna overflowed into land along the river in Uttar Pradesh's Noida, adjoining Delhi, on Wednesday, officials said.

While the water has not yet entered into any village or human settlement, the Gautam Buddh Nagar district administration has issued an advisory, cautioning people in low-lying areas against venturing near the swollen Yamuna, which was flowing above the danger mark in Delhi, they said.

According to Irrigation Department officials, the Yamuna was flowing at the 200-metre mark -- a little shy of hitting the danger level of 200.60 metres -- at the Okhla barrage in Noida.

District magistrate Manish Kumar Verma said water from the Yamuna overflowed into lands near the Gulawali area and people in low-lying areas have been advised to be prepared to move to safer locations in case it is required in coming days. (PTI)

Six more deaths due to rain-related incidents were reported in Punjab and Haryana on Wednesday, while authorities in the two states focused on relief operations as the weather cleared after days of heavy rains. The death toll now stands at 21, including 10 in Haryana, according to government data.

Overall, 14 districts have been affected in Punjab and seven in Haryana.

About 14,000 people have been shifted to safer places from waterlogged localities in Punjab's Patiala, Rupnagar, Moga, Ludhiana, Mohali, SBS Nagar, Tarn Taran, Jalandhar and Fatehgarh Sahib districts over the last three days, authorities said.

An official spokesperson said 1,058 villages in 14 districts of Punjab have been affected by the floods. (PTI)

The finance ministry on Wednesday released Rs 7,532 crore to 22 state governments under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) amid rain causing havoc in the northern parts of the country. The amount to states, including Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, and Maharashtra, has been released as per the recommendations of the ministry of home affairs, the finance ministry said in a statement.

In the wake of heavy rains across the country, the guidelines have been relaxed and the amount has been released as immediate assistance to states without waiting for the utilisation certificate of the amount provided to the states in the last financial year, it said.

Heavy rains in the last few days have caused havoc in the northern part of the country, including Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand. (PTI)

As the weather improved in parts of north India after days of heavy rains, authorities on Wednesday worked on a war footing to rescue stranded tourists, restore vehicular traffic on arterial roads and prevent floodwaters from entering new areas. Twelve people died in Uttar Pradesh in rain-related incidents within a span of 24 hours ending 8 pm on Wednesday, while 18 have died in Punjab and Haryana so far, according to official data.

As many as 2,000 tourists stranded in Himachal Pradesh's Kasol were evacuated and more than 300 tourist vehicles stuck in Lahaul following landslides and flash floods left for their respective destinations, the state government said. (PTI)

Twelve people were killed in rain-related incidents in the past 24 hours, the Uttar Pradesh Relief Commissioner said in a statement issued at 8 pm on Wednesday, as heavy rain continued to batter the state. "In the past 24 hours, while nine (people) died due to drowning, one each due to lightning (strike), snakebite and heavy rainfall," the statement said. (PTI)

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday conducted an aerial survey of areas affected by three days of incessant downpours and announced Rs 4 lakh ex gratia to the kin of those who died in rain-related incidents. Financial assistance will also be provided to the poor and others whose houses have been affected by the rains, he said. After reaching Ambala, where Khattar was accompanied by state Home Minister Anil Vij, the chief minister held a meeting with the district administration officials. (PTI)

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Wednesday reiterated his request to people to avoid unnecessary travel in view of incessant rains in the state and said the state government has released a helpline for those stranded in the disaster. "Our government has issued disaster relief numbers to help the people of Uttarakhand who are stranded in different places of the state and in Himachal Pradesh," Dhami said in a tweet.

We have set up several relief camps across Delhi. I have also instructed all the DMs that if needed, close schools and convert them into relief camps, said Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal amid a flood-like situation in low-lying areas as the Yamuna river breaches the danger mark.

Delhi LG VK Saxena called a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDA) on Thursday to discuss the flood situation in the national capital. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal will also take part in this meeting.

Forced to leave their homes to escape the flooding caused by the swollen Yamuna river, there is anger among those staying in relief camps set up by the Delhi government. While some criticised the government for failing to learn a lesson despite the Yamuna inundating people's homes every year, others claimed no rescue teams showed up to evacuate them.

"We lost our home. We are left with nothing. We have lost all our valuables and belongings. There was no one to evacuate us. We came here on our own," claimed Rubi Devi, who is staying in a relief camp in east Delhi's Mayur Vihar, on Wednesday.

"Our children are suffering more than us. Their schools have been shut," she said. (PTI)

As the water level of the Yamuna in Delhi breached the all-time record of 207.49 metres set 45 years ago, experts attributed the situation to the encroachment of floodplains, extreme rainfall in a short duration, and the accumulation of silt, which elevated the riverbed. At 1pm, the river swelled to 207.55 metres, surpassing the previous record set in 1978, and causing further inundation of areas near the floodplains.

Thousands of people have been shifted to safer areas as water gushed into their homes and markets near the river.

In view of the grave situation, the Delhi Police imposed prohibitory measures under CrPC section 144 in flood-prone areas of the city, preventing unlawful assembly of four or more people and public movement in groups.

A senior official at the Central Water Commission (CWC) said, "We noticed that the water released from the Hathnikund Barrage took less time to reach Delhi compared to previous years. The main reason could be encroachment and siltation. Earlier, the water would have had more space to flow. Now, it passes through a constricted cross-section". (PTI)

Police and NDRF teams evacuated at least 90 people living near the Yamuna riverbank here following a flood threat in low-lying areas, officials said on Wednesday. The rescued people are mostly labourers who, along with their families, lived in Amipur village and worked in farms there, they said.

The NDRF, along with the Faridabad Police, launched a rescue operation from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning to bring these people to a safer place as the water level was rising in the Yamuna river and there was a threat of flood in villages nearby, police spokesperson Sube Singh said. (PTI)

The Yamuna in Delhi swelled to 207.71 metres on Wednesday, breaching its all-time record of 207.49 metres set in 1978, flooding several riverside areas and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal calling an emergency meeting on the situation.

Thousands of people have been shifted to safer areas as water gushed into their homes and markets near the river.

In view of the grave situation, the Delhi Police imposed prohibitory measures under CrPC section 144 in flood-prone areas of the city, preventing unlawful assembly of four or more people and public movement in groups.

According to the Central Water Commission's (CWC) flood-monitoring portal, the water level at the Old Railway Bridge crossed the 207-metre mark at 4 am on Wednesday, the first time since 2013. It rose to 207.71 metres by 4pm.

The water level of the river is likely to rise further, an official of the Delhi Irrigation and Flood Control Department said. The India Meteorological Department has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall to continue in Uttarakhand in the next two days. (PTI)

The national capital on Wednesday witnessed traffic snarls in many areas due to waterlogging, damaged roads and movement of Kanwarias, as the city grappled with the aftermath of heavy rains over the weekend.

The Delhi Traffic Police issued an advisory in view of the rising water level of the Yamuna River following the rainfall and release of water by Haryana.

Prohibitory measures under CrPC section 144 were imposed in flood-prone areas on Wednesday.

As intermittent rains continued, airline operators advised people to allow more time for their journey to the airport.

"Heavy traffic congestion and slow vehicle movement expected en route Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, today. Customers travelling are advised to allow more time for their journey to the airport," Vistara tweeted. (PTI)

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said, "The water level of the Yamuna river in Delhi has reached 207.71 meters, which is the highest ever. Delhi has not received rainfall in the last 2-3 days. Water is entering Delhi from Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. Regarding this, I have also written a letter to Union home minister Amit Shah requesting him to reduce the flow of water entering Delhi. Only then we can stop the Yamuna River from overflowing. I request everyone to vacate their homes in the low-lying areas. There are several places affected by the rise in the level of water in the Yamuna river".

Delhi chief Arvind Kejriwal is chairing an emergency meeting in the secretariat over the flood situation in the national capital. Ministers, the mayor, and officials from various departments are present at the meeting.