Delhi commuters stranded in stagnant water after Yamuna bursts banks

Poor drainage leaves many areas submerged but flood levels starting to recede

A child swims through a flooded street after the Yamuna overflowed in Delhi. AFP

The water level of the Yamuna river in India’s capital Delhi is slowly receding but stagnant water in several parts of the city caused traffic jams and left commuters stranded on Friday morning.

Several areas in the city of 20 million people were flooded after water overflowing from the Yamuna river submerged the low-lying areas.

On Friday, water levels dipped to 208.46 metres, slightly lower than Thursday’s 208.66m – still three metres above the danger mark.

The Central Water Commission has forecast that the water levels on Friday will have fallen to 208.30m by 1pm.

Roads encompassing the sights of the 17th century Red Fort monument, Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial Rajghat and India’s Supreme Court, and those leading to one of Delhi's main railway stations and bus terminal were inundated with up to one metre of water.

Many areas were submerged due to poor drainage and sewage systems. Vehicles were also seen filled with water and stranded on flooded roads.

Nearly 24,000 people were evacuated on Thursday after their homes were submerged in eastern and northern parts of the city, a government statement said.

Migrant workers were seen wading through knee-deep waters as they struggled to catch a bus to their hometowns in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states after their rented homes were flooded.

Despite the rains, the city is facing a water shortage as three water treatment plants have been shut after flooding.

But Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said his government was taking adequate measures to control the situation.

“Delhi is likely to face a shortage of 25 per cent of water. But it wouldn’t last for more than a day. We are hoping to fix this by Saturday," he said.

In the Wazirabad area, people were seen with buckets at a hand-pump to fetch drinking water.

“There has been no electricity and water supply for the last two days,” one resident said.

Many were buying packaged water bottles.

At least 16 teams of the National Disaster Response Force were rescuing people on rafts. The Delhi Fire Service also rescued more than 400 people and several animals across the city.

“We are evacuating people and their livestock from affected areas," said Atul Karwal, director general of the NDRF. "We are using rafts to evacuate people. We strive to protect every life.”

The surge has been caused by days of heavy rainfall across northern India and the release of water from the Hathnikund Barrage in neighbouring Haryana state that was opened to release a build-up of water from Himachal Pradesh, where very heavy rainfall has caused widespread destruction and claimed at least 39 lives this week.

The Himalayan state, a popular destination for tourists at this time of year, received 249.6mm of rainfall between July 1 and 11 – more than triple the 76mm average for the period.