The water level of the Yamuna River crossed 207.25 metres on Wednesday morning, inching closer to the highest flood level at 207.49 metres. The river is currently flowing above the danger level.
The river had exceeded the evacuation mark of 206 metres on Monday night, prompting the relocation of people residing in flood-prone areas to safer locations and a closure of the Old Railway Bridge for road and rail traffic.
With officials believing the water level could rise further, police stations along the banks of the river in Mathura are on alert. Mathura SSP Shailesh Kumar Pandey told ANI that all police stations along the Yamuna river banks have been instructed to increase vigilance. "Coordination is also being established with other agencies so that if there is waterlogging, people can be evacuated immediately," Pandey added.
As much as 3,59,000 cusecs of water were released into the river from the Hatni Kund barrage on Tuesday noon. It could take 72 hours for the water to reach Yamuna. The continued rains in the hilly areas have also flooded all drains leading to Yamuna. Rivers Pathrala and Som are also in spate.
#WATCH | Water level of river Yamuna continues to rise in Delhi. Visuals from Old Railway Bridge.
— ANI (@ANI) July 12, 2023
Today at 8 am, water level of the river was recorded at 207.25 metres at the Bridge, inching closer to the highest flood level - 207.49 metres. The river is flowing above the… pic.twitter.com/e46LLHdeVe
Tourists stranded
As rain ebbs in Himachal Pradesh, 15 Russian tourists are reportedly stranded in the Kasol area. According to the acting Director General of Police of Himachal Pradesh, Satwant Atwal Trivedi, efforts are on to establish contact with the tourists.
"We received info from the Russian Embassy that 15 Russian tourists are stranded in Kasol. We are trying to establish contact and once we will be able to contact the tourists we will inform the Embassy about their well-being," said Trivedi.
"The team is deployed everywhere in the state. We are continuously working to ensure the safety of the people. We have set up four lines and trying to contact people across the country to inform them about their families. 200 people have been contacted since morning and their family has been informed about their well-being. We are also contacting the embassies," she added.
Rescue operations were conducted in other parts of the state too. According to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu, seven people were airlifted from the tourist spot Chandertal in Lahaul and Spiti on Tuesday. He said tourists stranded in Manali would be evacuated soon. The Kullu-Manali road has been partially restored and mobile connectivity was also back in Manali after a day. He added that tourists stuck in any part of the state including Chandertal and Sissu in Lahaul and Spiti would be evacuated by Wednesday.
According to a tourist from Punjab, they have been stuck in the state since Sunday. "We want to go home. We were scheduled to return on Sunday but we are stuck due to the flood," she told ANI.
Another tourist, Sanjeev Arora, said, "We are here in Manali since July 5. The main track is damaged. We have been trying to go back for the past two days. The internet services and electricity supply is disrupted," he added.
