With stagnant water, shut plant, city faces twin crises

For more than four days, the Yamuna has stayed swollen above danger marks, and Delhi is starting to feel the strain. With the river flowing higher than the outfalls of major drains, floodwaters are finding no escape, leading to persistent waterlogging in neighbourhoods across the city, particularly in north and east Delhi.

- Snehil Sinha

The situation has been further compounded by the shutdown of one of Delhi’s primary water treatment plants at Wazirabad for nearly 36 hours, disrupting supply across large parts of the city. Experts now warn that the combination of stagnant water and disrupted services could tip Delhi into a public health crisis, as the risk of vectorand waterborne diseases grows with each passing day.

Officials explained that when the Yamuna runs high, drains cannot empty into the river, creating a backflow that floods low-lying areas. “With Hathnikund barrage continuing to release water, the Yamuna is not receding. Several drains are brimming, and their outfalls are now below the river level, making them ineffective,” a senior government official said.

For residents, this means prolonged flooding in colonies close to the river, where pools of stagnant water have become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and are contaminating local water. Public health experts caution that such conditions are ripe for outbreaks of typhoid, cholera, and dengue.