Traffic movement resumes on Delhi's iron bridge after Yamuna River's water level starts reducing

The traffic movement over the old iron bridge, popularly known as 'loha pull', resumed on Wednesday in the national capital, after the water level of the Yamuna river started receding. The Northern Railways restored the traffic at 6.25 pm with speed restrictions. 

In a relief to the people, the alert that was raised against the water level has been withdrawn. The water level at 4 pm had receded to 206.56 metres and didn't cross it. It is further expected to recede to 205.25 metres.

On Monday, all vehicular movement on the bridge was stopped from both sides as Yamuna river in Delhi reached very close to the danger warning mark, Delhi Traffic Police had said.

The water level in the Yamuna rose significantly after huge amounts of water from Hathni Kund Barrage in Haryana was released. Around 8.47 lakh cusecs of water was released from Hathnikund barrage on Sunday, which is the highest ever recorded water release. 

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had called for an emergency meeting to take stock of the situation. The Delhi government had also issued orders for the evacuation of people from low-lying areas and civil defence volunteers were deployed for rescue operations.

Around 23,816 people living in the low-lying areas were evacuated to safety and shifted to more than 2,000 relief camps set up across the national capital. Over 1,100 relief camps were already set up with all the necessary facilities. The government had issued emergency helpline numbers 21210849, 22421656 in case one needs to call for help.