Floodwaters enter Supreme Court, Rajghat

New Delhi: A raging Yamuna showed signs of calming down on Friday but damage to a regulator led to water from the overflowing river reaching the Supreme Court several kilometres from its banks and submerging the busy ITO intersection as well as Mahatma Gandhi's memorial Rajghat. The water levels receded a bit but failed to stem the floodwaters from reaching the nerve centre of the national capital in central Delhi. The regulator installed near the Indraprastha bus stand and the WHO Building on Drain No 12 was being repaired with sandbags, braces, boulders.

Delhi Cabinet minister Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that the regulator was damaged because of the delay in the deployment of the NDRF, even as Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena urged him not to start a blame game. After breaching a 45-year record three days ago, water levels in the Yamuna here came down to 208.25 metres at 3pm on Friday even as several key areas in Delhi remain inundated. The water level in the river on Thursday started rising after staying stable for three hours and reached 208.66 metres by 7 pm, three metres above the danger mark of 205.33 metres. The water level in Yamuna at 4 pm Friday stood at 208.23 metre.

The Indraprastha water regulator was breached due to a strong current in the river and is likely to be repaired within three-four hours, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said earlier in the day during his visit to the site, which was also visited by Saxena. The flow of water from the river was so strong that it breached the regulator and entered the city. Even though the water level in the Yamuna is receding, the damaged regulator led the excess water in at ITO and nearby areas, Kejriwal told PTI video. "Labourers and engineers worked overnight to create a mud wall to stop the water. The Army and the NDRF have also joined the operation, so I believe we will be able to stop the water in the next three-four hours," he said.

Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh on Friday lashed out at the BJP government in Haryana, accusing it of being responsible for the flood-like situation in parts of Delhi by releasing water in the Yamuna from its Hathnikund barrage. The BJP hit back, with its Delhi unit chief alleging that the AAP government was "evading responsibility" and blaming other states, as it did during the Covid period.