Delhi Flood: Schools Bordering Yamuna Shut Till July 18; Rs 10K Aid to Affected Families | Updates

Even as water levels continued to fall in Yamuna on Sunday, all public and private schools in the areas bordering the river will remain closed on July 17 and 18.

For those who have had to leave their homes temporarily amidst a flood-like situation, Delhi Minister Kejriwal has announced financial assistance of Rs 10,000 per family per household.

“Since it is likely that the flood relief camps will continue to operate in schools in the areas bordering the Yamuna River, all schools (both public and private) in the DOE-affected areas – Eastern, North-Eastern, North-West, Northern, Central and South-East – will remain closed to students on the 17th. and July 18th.”

Days of heavy rain saw Yamuna cross the danger mark, prompting the evacuation of thousands of residents of the area.

Here are the latest updates about the Yamuna floods

• The water level reached 205.98 meters on Sunday, down from a peak of 208.66 meters at 8 pm on Thursday.
• We have opened relief camps in different areas for people whose homes were flooded due to the flooding of the Yamuna River. Many people have lost important documents like Aadhaar during the floods and a special camp will be set up for those people after that and we will provide school books and school uniforms to the children who lost these things,” CM Delhi Arvind Kejriwal said.
• Apart from those closed, the remaining schools in the other districts – Northwest-B, West-A, West-B, South, Southwest-A, Southwest-B and New Delhi – will remain open.
• The river became a point of contention between the AAP and the BJP, with the latter demanding a judicial investigation into whether the state government had drained the waters of the Yamuna River and drains into the city.
• “We demand a judicial inquiry into whether the Kejriwal government conducted any liquidation of the Yamuna river and drains, and if yes, how much was spent on it,” BJP’s Delhi chief Virendra Sachdeva said.
• Amidst this, the Delhi Jal said it had received Rs 1,071.37 crore from the National Mission of Clean Ganga (NMCG) under the Yamuna – III Action Plan in the last eight years. It has spent Rs 1,011.67 crore till date.
• In another development, two people who went to take a bath in Yamuna in Greater Noida on Sunday went missing. A team from the National Disaster Response Force and local police has been deployed to search.
• The river has been gushing for the past week, and swelled to 207.71m on Wednesday, surpassing the 1978 record of 207.49m, and inundating several major areas of Delhi.
• Meanwhile, the entry and exit of passengers of the Yamuna Bank metro station on the Blue Line reopened after it was closed due to high water levels.
• People who left north Delhi after the overflowing Yamuna destroyed their shops and homes are now starting to flow in as the river has receded with little or no rain the past few days in the city.

With agency input