Yamuna flows above danger mark, Sisodia reviews evacuations
New Delhi, July 29 : As the Yamuna river continued to flow above the danger mark in Delhi on Sunday, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia took stock of the ongoing evacuation in low-lying areas.
Over 1,000 families had been evacuated till Sunday morning. Sisodia also visited low- lying areas around Akshardham and Pandav Nagar and urged people to move to safer places.
The river's water level rose to 205.50 meters on Sunday due to water discharge from Haryana's Hathnikund Barrage amid continuous rain in the catchment areas. It is expected to rise to 206.60 meters on July 31.
Haryana had released six lakh cusecs of water at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
The water released at Hathnikund barrage, which provides drinking water to New Delhi, normally takes 72 hours to reach the city.
"More water is being released from the barrage every hour, which will have an impact on the Yamuna level in Delhi. We are keeping a close watch," a Flood and Control Department official told IANS.
East Delhi's District Magistrate K. Mahesh also visited the low-lying areas and said that the situation is under control and the government is fully prepared to tackle emergency.
"As many as 67 boats have been deployed at 23 locations. We have made arrangements to shift the affected persons to school campuses and night shelters," the official told the media.
He said that although the river level was above the danger mark, the situation, as of now, is not worrisome. Quick response teams have been activated, the official said.
The National Disaster Relief Force too is on a standby.
"We have set up over 750 tents for about 1,000 families in East zone alone, apart from arrangements of food. We are shifting people living on the river bed to the nearest higher areas," Nodal officer (Preet Vihar) Arun Gupta told IANS.
The evacuation started on Saturday following a rise in the water level.
Heavy rains continued to lash many parts of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, forcing authorities to release more water from Haryana's Hathnikund barrage on Sunday.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday held a review meeting with officials concerned on the preparedness to tackle the flood-like situation in low-lying areas of Delhi.
The Delhi government also requested the Army to be on standby for any emergency.
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IPL first phase schedule announced amid travel concerns caused by war in West Asia
New Delhi (PTI): Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2026 opener in Bengaluru on March 28 as the BCCI announced the first phase of the tournament schedule amid concerns around players' travel arrangements due to the ongoing West Asia conflict.
All matches scheduled at the Chinnaswamy Stadium remain subject to clearance from the Karnataka government appointed expert committee, which is scheduled to meet on March 13 to assess venue preparedness in the wake of the deadly stampede at the stadium last season.
The BCCI announced the schedule of the first 20 games on Wednesday and will unveil the full schedule once the dates of elections in three states -- Tamil Nadu, Assam and West Bengal -- are announced.
Besides the state elections, the escalating conflict in West Asia will also be at the forefront of BCCI officials' minds. The war has wreaked havoc to international travel with operations of major airports like Doha and Dubai being heavily restricted.
As a result of that, some of the squad members of South Africa and West Indies are yet to reach home a week after the completion of their T20 World Cup campaign.
It remains to be seen if IPL bound players of those two nations report to their respective teams in time.
"There was a substantial delay in departure of West Indies and South Africa players. It would be a tough task to get them back to India on time. Plus the airfares have gone up substantially due to the war in West Asia," a team official told PTI.
Additionally, hotels across India are facing cooking gas shortage due to the raging conflict and on Tuesday, the central government invoked Essential Commodities Act to ensure uninterrupted supply of domestic cooking gas.
Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanthan told PTI that he is expecting his players from the West Indies and South Africa -- Akeal Hossein and Dewald Brevis, to join the team well before their IPL opener.
"We are expecting no delays from their end," he said.
The second game of the opening weekend will see Mumbai Indians host Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium and the opening weekend will not feature any double-headers.
A total of 20 matches will be played across 10 venues: Bengaluru, Mumbai, Guwahati, New Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
"During the season, Royal Challengers Bengaluru will play five home matches in Bengaluru and two in Raipur. Punjab Kings will play four home matches in New Chandigarh and three in Dharamshala, while Rajasthan Royals will play three home matches in Guwahati and four in Jaipur," said the BCCI in a statement.
"During this period (the first 16 days), the tournament will feature four double-headers, with the afternoon matches beginning at 03:30 PM IST and the evening matches commencing at 07:30 PM IST.
"Following the opening encounter on Saturday, Mumbai Indians will take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
"The matches scheduled in Bengaluru are subject to clearance from the Expert Committee constituted by the Government of Karnataka," the BCCI added.
