A months-long investigation into skeletal remains found in Uttar Pradesh's Hathnikund Barrage has concluded with DNA matching confirming the victim as a 22-year-old woman from Uttarakhand, allegedly murdered by a man who had been harassing her.
Floodwaters reached near the Delhi secretariat, which houses the offices of the chief minister, cabinet ministers and key bureaucrats.
Evacuation of people living in low lying areas of the Yamuna floodplains began Monday evening with the river crossing the danger mark due to release of water from Hathnikund barrage in Haryana amid heavy rains in the northern belt of the country.
More than 7,500 people have been evacuated from low-lying flooded areas as the Yamuna river's level rose to 207 metres at the Old Railway Bridge on Wednesday.
Yamuna floodwater caused massive traffic jams in Delhi, disrupting morning rush-hour traffic and leaving commuters stranded for hours. Key stretches like Kashmere Gate, Ring Road, and Kalindi Kunj were heavily congested.
Rising Yamuna River levels flood low-lying areas of Delhi, displacing residents and disrupting businesses. Families struggle with loss of homes and livelihoods.
The water level of the Yamuna in Delhi breached the danger mark again on Sunday following a surge in discharge from the Hathnikund Barrage into the river after heavy rain in parts of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
The water level of the Yamuna in Delhi, which has been hovering around the danger mark of 205.33 metres for the last few days, dropped below the threshold again on Saturday morning.
The Yamuna River has crossed the danger mark, leading to flooding in the Trans-Yamuna area of Delhi. Residents are being evacuated as water enters homes.
An official from East Delhi district said the evacuation process began on Monday night after floodwaters entered some areas.
The water level at the Old Railway Bridge crossed the 208-metre mark Wednesday night and rose to 208.48 metres by 8 am on Thursday. It is expected to rise further, according to the Central Water Commission, which has termed it an "extreme situation".
Officials have confirmed that water has been released from the Hathnikund Barrage in Haryana, contributing to the rise in river water levels.
The Yamuna river continues to be in spate following the release of about one lakh cusecs of water in two phases from the Hathnikund Barrage and the Tajewala headworks near Yamunanagar.
The Yamuna river in Delhi swelled to the highest recorded level in 10 years on Tuesday and is expected to rise further, officials said on Tuesday.
The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Himachal Pradesh government to release 137 cusecs of surplus water available with it for Delhi, which is grappling with water crisis.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday urged the Centre to intervene to ensure that levels of the Yamuna, flowing at an all-time high of 207.55 metres, don't rise further.
The situation could worsen if weather predictions of more rain in the capital and upper catchment areas come true.
Bharadwaj said it has not rained in Delhi in the last 3-4 days, yet still the water level in Yamuna reached 208.66 metres.
More than 10,000 people living in low-lying areas along the Yamuna in the city were evacuated by the government agencies as the river after the river breached the danger mark.
At least 28 people have so far lost their lives in rain related incidents in Uttar Pradesh whereas a population of five lakh in some 600 villages of the state has been affected because of it.
Floodwaters of the overflowing Yamuna reached the entrance of the Supreme Court in Central Delhi on Friday as the regulator of the Delhi irrigation and flood control department at Indraprastha suffered damage on Thursday evening.
The rain ebbed in some places in north India and pelted down in others on Tuesday, with at least seven more people dead and hundreds stranded as raging waters gushed through villages, towns and fields -- from the desert state of Rajasthan to the hills of Himachal Pradesh.
The flow rate at the Hathnikund barrage saw a marginal rise on Tuesday afternoon, oscillating between 50,000 and 60,000 cusecs.
As floods hit the low-lying areas in the national capital, slum dwellers whose houses got submerged claimed that they were not alerted beforehand and many others alleged that help was not forthcoming from the administration.
The India Meteorological Department on Friday predicted that Delhi will likely receive light to moderate rain accompanied by thunderstorms for the next 4-5 days.
The Yamuna surged to a record 208.48 metres at 8 am, the Central Water Commission said on Thursday, adding that it is likely to rise to 208.75 metres by 4 pm.
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