Delhi govt sets up 24/7 flood control room to monitor real time data

New Delhi: The Delhi government has set up a 24x7 flood control room to monitor real-time data from the Hathnikund barrage from where water is released in the Yamuna to Delhi.

Ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj made the announcement at a joint press conference following a meeting of the apex committee on supervising, recommending and coordinating flood control measures in the National Capital Territory.

The control room will be manned by officials from agencies, including the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC).

“Last year, the Yamuna reached its highest level in 70 years. The Delhi government is gearing up to tackle any possibility of floods. The control room is in touch with officials at Hathnikund barrage from where Yamuna river discharge is received. After the release of one lakh cusecs of water, relief and rescue machinery starts working,” Atishi said, the city government’s water minister.

She reassured residents that despite hopes for no flooding this year, “the government is fully prepared” to manage any emergency.

Bharadwaj, the irrigation and flood control minister, said the control room would monitor data in real time and be entirely computerised.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF), Army, police as well as all Delhi government departments.

As soon as more than

one lakh cusecs of water is released from the barrage, all agencies — including the flood control department — will be activated, Aitshi said.

Currently, 352 cusecs of water is being released from the barrage, she said and expressed hope that there would not be any flood situation like last year.

Bharadwaj said last year, more water was released from the Hathnikund barrage and the flood situation arose because gates of the ITO barrage were not opened, he said. “This time, all gates of the ITO barrage have been opened and the ones that could not be opened were removed,” he said.

The control room is constantly in touch with the Haryana government’s irrigation department regarding the water released from the Hathnikund barrage. It is also monitoring the weather around the Yamuna’s flow area and the rain in that entire area, Atishi said.

The Delhi BJP president, Virendra Sachdeva criticised Atishi’s flood control claims and accused her of ‘serving another bowl of lies’ to the public.