Locals residing near Yamuna banks urged to shift amid rising water levels

Shahdara district police on Sunday visited the Yamuna floodplains and alerted the residents about the rising water level.

The police also urged local residents to shift to a safer place amid the rising levels of the Yamuna.

"We are here to inform you all that the level of Yamuna has risen due to heavy rainfall. You all requested to vacate the area and move to a safer place," a police officer told residents living by the Yamuna banks.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government on Sunday issued a flood warning amid heavy rains in North India, as the Haryana government released more than one lakh cusecs of water into the Yamuna River from the HathniKund Barrage in Yamunanagar.

In view of incessant rains in the national capital, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday spoke to Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena and took updates.

Shah spoke to Delhi L-G as moderate to heavy rain lashed several parts of the national capital and its adjoining areas. The downpour and heavy waterlogging slowed traffic in several parts of the city.

Pictures and videos of commuters wading through knee-deep water flooded social media platforms, raising concerns over the efficiency of the city's drainage infrastructure.

Delhi Traffic Police kept tweeting out updates on how vehicular movement was being impacted because of the downpour. They also shared images of waterlogged areas.

The national capital recorded 153 mm of rainfall in 24 hours ending at 8:30 am on Sunday, the highest in a single day in July since 1982, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Further, according to the IMD, an interaction between a western disturbance and monsoonal winds is leading to an intense rainfall spell over northwest India, including Delhi, which experienced the season's first "very heavy" rainfall.