The Yamuna is flowing beyond its warning mark, but instead of panicking, it is time for people to behold the river come alive, say experts.
Over the years, crores of rupees have been washed away under different revival projects for the Yamuna, but nothing except ‘water’ itself could turn it into a ‘river’.
“Until a month ago, the Yamuna was black and had no flow at all. It was dead. The extra water released from the barrages in Haryana only does good. The biggest advantage is that the river is naturally cleaning itself - something which never happened with all the money being pumped in for its rejuvenation,” said Rajendra Singh, a noted water conservationist often referred to as the “Waterman of India”.
Filled with the city’s sewage and hazardous pollutants, aquatic life in the Yamuna has died a painful death. But the relentless flow of flood waters might bring the river back to life as fresh water is pushing away all the filth.
This in turn also helps in making the soil more fertile. Also, a flood greatly contributes to moderate the micro-climate in the city where it occurs.
“Until the monsoon began, the dissolved oxygen level of Yamuna was zero. Biotic animals and plants are dependent on the dissolved oxygen in water. Now with the increased water levels, the situation is far better,” said Manoj Mishra of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan.
The increased volume of the river is also recharging the city’s depleting ground water levels.
“This is the best time for Delhi’s ecology as its aquifers are getting recharged. The impact of increased water level and high flow of the river reflects most in the ground water table of East and West Delhi as its soil can absorb much more water,” Mr. Mishra said, adding that “excess water could have been channelised to reservoirs, but unfortunately Delhi doesn’t have any”.
According to Mr. Singh, the Yamuna basin acts like a “sponge”. It absorbs as much water as it can during monsoons and releases some of it during summers.
“The sand of Yamuna has 45 per cent water absorbing capacity while that in most of the other rivers is 30 per cent,” Mr. Singh added.
Water level of the Yamuna, which swelled through Saturday night — breaching the danger mark between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Sunday — has started receding but is still above the warning mark.
The Yamuna bridge (Loha Pul) remained closed as a precautionary measure, which led to cancellation of 15 trains and 100 diversions on Sunday. Besides, a few trains were short terminated as well.
Water level in the river had increased mainly due to discharge of water from Haryana's Palla barrage.
The water level at 2 p.m. on Sunday was 204.76 metres and by 7 p.m. it receded to 204.6 metres. The warning and danger water levels are 204 m and 204.83 m, respectively.
Water level of the Yamuna breached the danger mark on Sunday before receding to the warning level
