With the Gomti receding upstream, floodwater continues to inundate several areas of Lucknow, and it may take another week for the water to drain from the affected localities, an irrigation department official said on Saturday.
At Hanuman Setu and the Gomti barrage, the water level also fell. At Neemsar, the river’s water level fell by 87 cm from its peak of 122.02 metres, recorded at 8 am on September 29, to 121.15 metres at 6 pm on Saturday. In the preceding 24 hours, the level dropped by 16 cm, from 121.31 metres to 121.15 metres. At Bhatpurva, the water level fell by 38 cm from its peak of 113.16 metres, recorded at noon on October 2, to 112.78 metres on Saturday. In the preceding 24 hours, it dropped by 13 cm, from 112.91 metres to 112.78 metres. At Gaughat, the water level declined from 108.6 metres on October 8 to 108.54 metres on Saturday, said Mukesh Kumar Vaish, executive engineer, irrigation department. At Hanuman Setu, it dropped by 6 cm from 107.32 metres, recorded on October 9, to 107.26 metres on Saturday. At the Gomti barrage, it declined from 107.09 metres, recorded on October 9, to 107.05 metres on Saturday.
The decline offers some hope of relief, provided there is no further rainfall, officials said. Vaish told HT that the situation was likely to improve as the river continued to recede upstream. He said the downstream stretches would also begin to reflect the change, although the decline might take time to become visible. Now that it has started falling upstream, the rise downstream is expected to slow, and the water level should gradually begin to recede,” Vaish said.
“Earlier, the water level was rising rapidly.
