Yamuna tears through the city in an early monsoon

At 207.20 meters above the sea level, the Yamuna on Wednesday reached the highest recorded level in Delhi in the last 35 years. As per the government's flood records, it is for the second time in 50 years that the river is flowing above 207 meters in the capital.

The river has been flowing well above the danger mark since Tuesday afternoon. The Old Railway Bridge continued to remain inaccessible for the second consecutive day on Wednesday. Earlier instances when the river crossed the 207 meter mark include In 1978, it reached 207.49 meters and in 2010 it touched 207.11 meters. 

"The water level along the Palla region has gone down. We expect it to recede further by Thursday. However, if there are more rains in Uttarakhand, we will get to see a second round of water rising in the river," said Ish Sharma, chief engineer, irrigation and flood control department.

Meanwhile, 5000 people have been evacuated and another 400 rescued from the low lying areas that have been submerged. Most of the people living in areas along the river bed are farmers and people living in unauthorised colonies. They have been relocated to the 19 tents and 500 camps set by the government. Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit along with Revenue Minister Arvinder Singh visited the relief camps.

The power supply in the affected has been suspended for safety measures. These include Vishkarma Colony, Jaitpur, Dhobi Ghat, near Masjid Khallilullah and Batla House.