New Delhi: The Centre stated before the NGT that the reason for the flawed 2023 flood prediction was the congestion in the Yamuna river between Wazirabad and Okhla Barrage. The NGT had earlier acted on a contempt report and passing of orders on a self-referenced newspaper report on the failure to forecast subsequent floods in Delhi in 2023 and had called for a response from the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS), Central Water Commission(CWC) and others.
Some parts of Delhi experienced one of the worst floods in the past few years because of continuous rainfall. Over 25000 people had to be relocated from areas flooded as the city was wettest in its history. On January 4, the MoJS and CWC responded with a detailed rejoinder, noting that the flood situation was caused by high discharge downstream of the Hathnikund Barrage, which compounded the problem near Delhi.
The report also provided that on 12 July 2023, water touched a record high of 207.49 meters at Delhi Railway Bridge, and according to the reports, up to 6 p.m. of 13 July 2023, water has risen further and touched 208.66 meters. The CWC was equally categorical that efficient flood forecasting demands that the water channel is in a “free flow state”. Nevertheless, because of various favourable conditions, including failure to open all the gates at the ITO Barrage, the formation of the island that is composed of silt deposits, and the presence of trees and debris within the river, the flow was somewhat hindered. These problems, magnified by the deposition of muck and construction operations on the river, affected the forecast conditions.
The report also showed that these congestion points were causing obstruction in the flood modelling resulting in poor management of flood in the capital.
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