Look: Floods force Indian capital to shut schools, offices, and plan water rationing

Hundreds of people living on the banks of the river Yamuna wade through flooded pathways to reach relief camps

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Vehicles stuck in a flooded underpass near the Old Yamuna Bridge in New Delhi. — PTI

By Reuters

Published: Thu 13 Jul 2023, 9:52 PM

Flooding in parts of New Delhi forced the city government to close all education institutions in India's capital on Thursday and advise people to work from home, while warning that there would be water rationing after the Yamuna river broke its banks.

A local rescues a dog as he walks through a flooded area in New Delhi on Thursday. — PTI

Since the rainy monsoon season began on June 1, Delhi has recorded 113 per cent above-average rainfall, the India Meteorological Department said, and the rains in the hilly states to the north have fed the river's floodwaters.

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A man swims on a flooded road as a deserted flyover is seen, after a rise in the water level of the river Yamuna due to heavy monsoon rains. — Reuters

Video footage showed submerged roads in the downtown area, where government and private companies' offices are located, with water half-way up the sides of parked cars. Other images showed the road by the city's historical Red Fort under water.

A motorcyclist wades through a flooded road near the Red Fort. — PTI

"I appeal to all the people of Delhi to cooperate with each other in every possible way in this emergency," Delhi's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday, warning that water supplies would be badly affected.

Flood hit people try to manage their livestocks as they take shelter on a bridge over the swollen Yamuna river. — PTI

"Due to closure of water treatment plants, the supply of water will be affected by up to 25 per cent. That's why water rationing will be done," Kejriwal told reporters.

People rescue cows from a flooded locality after a rise in the water level of river Yamuna due to heavy monsoon rains, in New Delhi. — Reuters

The city of 20 million people has ordered the closure of all schools, colleges and universities until Sunday and stopped non-essential government staff from coming to office, Kejriwal said, adding that private firms were also being advised "to implement work from home."

Kejriwal said the Yamuna's level would peak later on Thursday, having already reached it highest levels in 45 years as a result of the unusually heavy downpours north of the capital.

Members of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) evacuate stranded residents from a flooded locality, after a rise in the water level of the river Yamuna. — Reuters

The states of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand have recorded 105 per cent, 91 per cent and 22 per cent more rain than average, respectively, since the monsoon season began.

Roads flooded by the swollen Yamuna river, in New Delhi. — PTI

With pets on their shoulders and pots and pans in their hands, hundreds of people living on the banks of the river waded through flooded pathways on Wednesday to reach some of the 2,500 relief camps set up to provide temporary shelter.

A flood-affected woman cooks food for her family at a makeshift shelter on a bridge in New Delhi. — AFP

Flooding at a trauma centre in the posh Civil Lines neighbourhood — where Kejriwal and many top officials live — forced the transfer of dozens of patients to another hospital, ANI news agency reported.

Residents try to save their belongings in a flood-hit village near Patran, 70km from Patiala. — PTI

At least 88 people have died in Himachal Pradesh during the incessant rains since June 24, ANI reported. Flash floods in the state over the weekend brought down a bridge and washed away several clusters of hutments.

People wade through a flooded street after river Yamuna overflowed following heavy monsoon rains in New Delhi. — AFP

Roads have been washed away during heavy rains in the mountainous Uttarakhand state, its chief minister told reporters on Wednesday.

Reuters

Published: Thu 13 Jul 2023, 9:52 PM

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