Water level rises in Yamuna, alarm sounded in 35 villages of Haryana's Karnal

The water level in the Yamuna river has risen following heavy rainfall in the hilly areas, with nearly 50,000 to 60,000 cusecs of water flowing downstream. Officials of the Irrigation Department said the flow was fluctuating every hour, and precautionary measures had been put in place.

Superintending Engineer (SE) Sanjay Rahar said that the field staff members, including SDOs, JEs and others, had been directed to remain alert round the clock, while an alarm had been sounded in nearly 35 villages situated along the river.

“The situation is under control, but we do not want to take any risk, so villagers have been advised to stay cautious,” he added.

Officials recalled that in July 2023, the Yamuna had discharged nearly 3.60 lakh cusecs of water, breaching embankments at Garhpur Tapu and Samaspur. The floodwaters wreaked havoc in dozens of villages including Chaugaon, Nabiabad, Chandraon, Japti Chapra, Nangal, Kalsora, Labkari, causing widespread crop destruction and damage to homes.

The authorities said that water levels between 75,000 and 1.25 lakh cusecs came under the category of low flood, between 1.25 lakh and 2.5 lakh cusecs medium flood, and above 2.5 lakh cusecs high flood.

The SE assured that the situation was “under control”, but constant monitoring was being carried out to prevent any untoward incident. “We are monitoring the situation round the clock,” he added.