Yamuna water level reaches record level, as Delhi faces worst floods in 40 years

The Yamuna in Delhi has risen to an all-time high of 208.46 meters today, submerging low-lying areas and prompting evacuation measures. The Central Water Commission has called it an "extreme situation" as the water flow into Yamuna is expected to peak at around 8-10 am today.The current water level is three metres above the danger mark.

Water-levels in the Yamuna first crossed the danger mark of 205.33 metres on Monday evening after the Haryana government released 3 lakh cusecs of water from the Hathnikund barrage. And things have only gone further downhill since.As per the Central Water Commission's flood-monitoring portal, the water level at Delhi’s Old Railway Bridge crossed the 207-metre mark at 4 am on Wednesday (the first time since 2013), and quickly rose to 207.55 metres by 1 pm. This means that the Yamuna water levels in Delhi have breached the all-time record of 207.49 metres set in 1978! 

As many as 12 teams of National Disaster Response Force are on the ground for rescue work.Although the national capital has not received heavy rain in the past couple of days, the spate in Yamuna due to the discharge from Haryana has led to immense hardships for people living near the river. Many people have had to vacate their homes after water gushed in. Thousands have been evacuated and gathering banned in vulnerable areas in the light of the flood situation.