The water level in the Hathnikund barrage saw a rapid uptick on Saturday with heavy rain in the region, including Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. The flow of water in the Yamuna reached near the high-flood mark of 2.5 lakh cusecs in the morning, setting alarm bells ringing in the low-lying areas along the river.

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Following heavy rainfall in the hills of Himachal Pradesh, the flow of water in the river at Hathnikund barrage was measured at 2.4 lakh cusecs at noon on Saturday from 87,177 cusecs at 8am.

The officials monitoring the flow of water said that they have opened all the gates, as per the guidelines of the Central Water Commission.

There is a possibility that the flow of water may recede by the evening. But, the water being discharged from the Hathnikund barrage will reach Karnal on Sunday and it will take around 72 hours to reach Delhi.

The flow from 70,000 cusecs to 1.5 lakh cusecs is considered ‘low flood’, from 1.5 lakh cusecs to 2.5 lakh it is called ‘medium flood’ and if the water flow in river crossing 2.5 lakh cusecs mark it is considered as ‘high-flood’ situation.

This is the second wave in the Yamuna river in less than two weeks as on July 11, the flow of water had reached 3.59 lakh cusecs, the highest of this year, flooding around 60 villages of Karnal and Panipat districts and lower parts of Delhi.

The authorities have sounded an alert in the low-lying areas.