Yamuna Flood--Wake up call
By Kiran Deep
Overflow of Yamuna has been causing much damage in the low lying areas of Haryana, UP and Delhi for years, however neither the central government nor the affected states have any solution to control the overflow of Yamuna. To much apathy, all are helpless. The reason is that there is no dam in the upstream of Yamuna in Himachal Pradesh or Uttarakhand that can store and control the heavy flow of the river. The Hathnikund barrage which is situated in Yamunanagar district on the border of Himachal and Uttarakhand can only channelise river water. The Haryana government has been claiming for years that it had discussed the issue with Delhi and UP governments and things will be finalise soon in this regard. However these remain mare statements only and nothing concrete came out so far.
The situation is serious and it requires attention of the Prime Minister, Haryana, Delhi, UP CMs. There is urgent need to find some solution to control Yamuna water to avoid floods in the low-lying areas situated along Yamuna in Haryana, UP and Delhi.
The situation is deteriorated in the low lying areas of Haryana after 8.06 lakh cusecs water was discharged from the Hathnikund barrage on Monday which has caused much damage in around 150 villages of Haryana and also of Saharanpur of UP so far and will also hit low lying areas of Delhi late night today and tomorrow. Many villagers have become homeless and did have food to eat, have no availability to water, electricity in Haryana. All credit goes to the concerned states and central government’s inability to understand the pain and suffering of the villagers living all along Yamuna in Haryana, UP and Delhi.
This is not first time, that the floods had caused much damages, almost every alternate year, the people of living in the low lying areas have to face similar. Earlier the water level of Yamuna was recorded 7.44 lakh cusecs in 2010, and it had caused damages in over 100 villages in Haryana and many persons had lost their lives. Besides Haryana, low lying area of the UP and Delhi, had also suffered losses. Similarly in 1978, the water level of Yamuna was recorded 7 lakh cusecs which had caused much damage in Haryana, UP and also in Delhi. Whenever the catchments areas of the river had witnessed heavy rainfall in the previous years, it led to the overflow of the Yamuna and damages, especially in 1988, 1995, 1998. In addition to it, the water level of the Yamuna at the Hathnikund barrage had reached 4.25 lakh cusecs (over flood point) in 2008 and also in 2009 due to heavy rainfall.
Why there is need to construct Dam
There is need to construct Dam on the upstream of Yamuna as the water level of the Yamuna depends on the inflow of seasonal rivulets and tributaries of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, which converges in the Yamuna at the Hathnikund barrage. The water received at the Hathnikund barrage is released into two canals, Western Yamuna Canal (WYC) for Delhi and Eastern Yamuna Canal (EYC) from the barrage for UP, and also in downstream of the Yamuna for Haryana as per the shares. The Hathnikund barrage has 18 floodgates to channelise the water in downstream. The mini flood is declared after the water level of the Yamuna crosses 70,000 cusecs at the Hathnikund barrage, while flood is declared when the water level crosses 3-lakh cusecs mark. If the water level of the Yamuna crosses 70,000 cusecs mark, then officials of the barrage even stop the release of water into the WYC and the EYC as the heavy flow of the Yamuna carries sand and stone that can choke the canal system. Then, all water received at the barrage is released into the downstream of the barrage in the Yamuna. Then, the overflow of water, through Yamunanagar, Karnal, Panipat and Sonepat, after three days reaches Delhi. The Hathnikund barrage can only channelise river water. So to control the flow of Yamuna, there is need of Dam.
EOM
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