Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij
Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij on Saturday hit out at the AAP government in Delhi for accusing the Haryana government of causing the flood-like situation in parts of the national capital by releasing water in the Yamuna from its Hathni Kund Barrage and said that his government is not "blaming" anyone, though it too is receiving water from other states.
"In our state, also, water came from Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, but we are not blaming anyone. We are trying to make arrangements," Anil Vij said while talking to ANI.
He further said that since several districts of Haryana bordering Delhi are receiving heavy water, leading to a flood-like situation, why would the state government deliberately release water?
"All the villages and cities on the banks of the Yamuna have received the same amount of water. Why would we deliberately release water in our districts?" he added.
Earlier, Delhi Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Atishi accused the Haryana government of deliberately releasing water from Hathini Kund Barrage to Delhi.
"There is good news for Delhi's people that the water level of the River Yamuna is decreasing... It is a big question why all the water was being released only for Delhi. Not a single drop of water was released for the water that goes to UP and Haryana from Hathini Kund Barrage... Haryana will have to answer for this," Atishi said.
However, speaking on water being discharged from Hathni Kund Barrage, Haryana, to the Eastern Yamuna Canal (EYC) and Western Yamuna Canal (WYC), Haryana Irrigation Department Sub Divisional Officer (SDO) said that water is released into the Yamuna as soon as the water level crosses 1 lakh cusecs as the irrigation department works on a demand basis; hence, during flood situations, the EYC and WYC gates were closed.
"We release water into the Yamuna as soon as the water level crosses 1 lakh cusecs. We work on the basis of demand. Right now, its demand is low, so we have released less water. As soon as the demand increases, we will release more water. In case of flood, we close the gates of EYC and WYC, as during flood, wood logs and stones damage our gates," he said.
Notably, several parts of Delhi are witnessing waterlogging and flooding following incessant rainfall and the release of water from the Hathni Kund Barrage in Haryana.
People are seen grappling with the waterlogging. Commuters were witnessed pushing their motorcycles through the water.
The water level of the River Yamuna was recorded at 207.27 metres at 1 pm, today. While the same stood at 207.38 metres at 12 pm, today.
Yesterday, the water level was recorded at 207.98 metres at 11 pm.
Meanwhile, the Indian Meteorological Department predicted on Friday that Delhi will likely receive light to moderate rain accompanied by thunderstorms during the next 4-5 days.