Hathnikund barrage, Yamunanagar (Haryana): The beauty and ferocity of nature inspires awe at this spot, about 230 km from Delhi.

It’s here that a river subtly marks the boundaries of four states.Muhammad Akhtar, a 61-yearold farmer, has come all the way from Jhalu village in UP’s Shamli district, more than 100km away, on his bike with fellow farmer Idrees.

They are not here on an excursion like the tourists that flock to this scenic place.

They are nervous and apprehensive.“The water levels began rising in our village last week.

Water is being released into the canals again and it has flooded the entire area.

We know the situation in Delhi is not good either but at least there are officials to take care of it since it’s the national capital.

No one is taking stock of the situation for us,” says a worried Akhtar.In distant Delhi, there is some relief.

The water level at Hathnikund barrage began to decline on July 13 though it may not be apparent since its roar is loud enough to drown the honking of passing buses while the water falling off the barrage into the main river stream towards Delhi continues to weave a blanket of mist all over the area.Many villagers like Akhtar and Idrees have descended from far-flung places to see the situation first-hand.

“Do you think the water level has fallen? Will it rise again?” a farmer asks the locals who are selling snacks along the barrage.

The farms of these men now lie submerged and have become unfit for paddy cultivation.Bijender Singh, a farmer from Jodhpur village in Yamunanagar, says the river had spread over a very large area and inundated many farms.

“The region is connected to small irrigation channels which get water either from the west or east Yamuna canal.

At some places, the water spilled over and filled the farms.

Many had already planted paddy which takes place in ankle-deep water,” explains Singh.

“However, fromthe second week of July, as the river spread over a large area outside its channel, many farms were filled with kneeand even waist-deep water.

This has destroyed the entire crop.

”On July 11, the barrage’s flow had increased to over 3 lakh cusecs.

However, officials from Haryana’s irrigation department say the situation is very different now.

It was 70,000 cusecs on Tuesday and further dropped to 50,000 cusecs on Wednesday.

Describing the situation as “under control”,officials said they might now release water in the other two canals – east Yamuna canal that goes to UP and the west Yamuna canal that flows towards Haryana and finally supplies drinking water to Delhi through Munak.However, monsoon is not over yet.

The highest flow at the barrage was recorded in 2019, in the month of August, something that is worrying the farmers and officials equally.Does Delhi have anything to worry about? The officials saythey are bound to follow the protocol put in place for the safety of a larger area.

“We must first understand it’s a barrage and not a dam, which means we cannot hold the water here.

So, if the flow crosses 1 lakh cusecs, we must release the additional water into the Yamuna or else the barrage will break, leading to worse floods,” said an official.“Also, since the river comes from the mountains, it brings an excessive load of sediments, stones and other solid particlesduring the rains.

This is why when the flow is over 1 lakh cusecs, we don’t release water into the other two canals since these would get clogged by the sediments.

These canals are also joined by a few channels upstream which may lead to overspilling and cause more damage.

”On July 9, a day before the flood situation began to worsen in Delhi, the water level at Hathnikund barrage crossed 2 lakh cusecs following which the authorities stopped the flow to east and west Yamuna canals.

On July 10, the Yamuna level in Delhi breached the 206m mark and evacuation from low-lying areas began.

The following day, the Hathnikund level reached this season’s peak at over 3.

58 lakh cusecs.

The additional water was released into the main Yamuna channel, triggering a series of events that submerged a large part of the national capital.Stressing that releasing water into the canals would only aggravate the situation, the official said, “What happens if in such a scenario, we let the water go through the east Yamuna canal that goes to UP or the west Yamuna canal that feeds water to Delhi.

The canals will get clogged and it would take us at least a week to clear them.

So, for a week, there would be no drinking water supply to Delhi’s reservoirs through Munak canal.

How will a city like Delhi survive without water for over a week?”An engineer from Delhi’s irrigation department, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told TOI: “During flooding in a city, a mismanaged drain system fails as reverse flow starts.

This is a major reason behind waterlogging even in urban areas that are not near the catchment zone.

”According to Professor Shashank Shekhar, a geologist at DU who has conducted multiple studies on the Yamuna, Delhi can no longer compromise its floodplains.“Once the situation improves, the administration has its task cut out.

First, it must assess how Delhi was flooded while a large part of the area between Hathnikund and Wazirabad barrage stayed safe.

There are massive unauthorised encroachments in Zone O.

The administration must also look at why Delhi’s drains were not managed properly,” said Shekhar.