Delhi vs Haryana: Why Hathnikund Barrage is Caught in Storm as the Yamuna Swells

What is the water politics between Delhi and Haryana? Why was water released from the Hathnikund barrage? We explain

On 13 July, the water level breached a 45-year record after it reached 208.66 meters, according to data released by the Central Water Commission (CWC). 

(Image: The Quint)

With Delhi witnessing one of its worst floods due to heavy rainfall and rising water level of the Yamuna river, a war of words ensued between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the release of water from Haryana’s Hathnikund barrage. 

A barrage is a man-made structure built on water courses or rivers to facilitate and control diversion of water into canals for navigation or irrigation.

On 13 July, the water level breached a 45-year record after it reached 208.66 meters, according to data released by the Central Water Commission (CWC). This is 1.17 meters higher than the Highest Flood Level (HFL) in 1978. The standard danger level is 205.33 meters.   

This led to waterlogging across Delhi, with several people living in low-lying areas being evacuated.   
  
While the city is recovering from the disaster as water levels have receded, the Hathnikund barrage has been in the spotlight.

The AAP sees the release of water from the barrage as one of the main reasons for the water logging in the Capital.   

What is the water politics between the Delhi and Haryana governments? Why was water released from the Hathnikund barrage and could it have been avoided? We explain here.  

But First, What Does the Hathnikund Barrage do?

Built on the Yamuna river, the Hathnikund barrage is located on the border of Haryana's Yamuna Nagar and Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh (UP). The water levels of this barrage come under the control of the Haryana government.   

Water from the Hathnikund barrage is released in three directions:   

1. Eastern Yamuna Canal: With a capacity of around 7,000 cusecs, the water is diverted towards UP for irrigation purposes.  

2. Western Yamuna Canal: This canal, which has a capacity of around 18,000 cusecs, diverts water to different parts of Haryana for irrigation purposes.   

3. Yamuna river: After sending water to both the canals, there is a part that is left in the main river.

The Hathnikund barrage, which was completed in 1998, was set up by the Upper Yamuna River Board to regulate water storage and barrages on the Yamuna river in consultation with floodplain states including Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.   

This was in accordance with an agreement signed under the then-Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (now Jal Shakti ministry) to resolve a long-pending Yamuna water dispute between the states, and to ensure that each state gets adequate water for drinking and irrigation purposes.   

Peak discharge from the barrage took place on 11 July where approximately 3.79 lakh cusecs were released. This was later reduced to around 58,000 cusecs on 14 July.  

Haryana ‘Deliberately’ Released Water: AAP’s Allegations

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took cognisance of the matter and wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah: 

"There have been no rains in Delhi for the last three days. Water levels of Yamuna are rising not because of rains but due to high volumes of water being released by Haryana at Hathnikund barrage.”  

“There is good news for Delhi’s people that the water level of river Yamuna is decreasing... It is a big question why all the water was being released only for Delhi. Not a single drop of water was released for the water that goes to UP and Haryana from Hathinikund Barrage... Haryana will have to answer for this,” said Delhi's Public Works Department (PWD) minister Atishi to news agency ANI.  

In a press conference on 14 July, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) vice-chairman Somnath Bharti said that the water from the barrage was not released into the Eastern and Western Yamuna Canals earlier this week but into the river. 

“On 10, 11 and 12 July, this flow (towards the canals) was nil. We have the logbook from the barrage. Then, it was released on 13 July but even that was much below capacity. Doesn’t this question arise of what the BJP-ruled Haryana government wants to do? Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had requested in writing to the Union Home Minister that water from the Hathnikund barrage be released in a controlled manner, but no attention was paid to this.”

Somnath Bharti, Delhi Jal Board (DJB)

How did the Haryana Government Respond?

The Haryana government was quick to refute the allegations, with CM Khattar accusing the AAP of indulging in “unethical” politics. 

“There has been a natural calamity and it is unethical to do politics even in such a time,” he said in a statement.  

Taking to Twitter, the Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR Haryana) said, “According to CWC (Central Water Commission) guidelines, if the inflow of water in Hathnikund barrage is more than 1 lakh cusecs, then the flow of this water cannot be diverted to the Western Yamuna Canal (which includes Haryana’s share of Yamuna water) and Eastern Yamuna Canal (which flows towards UP) due to large boulders that could damage the barrage structures”.   

Is the Hathnikund Barrage the Main Reason for Flooding in Delhi?

While a lot has been said about the water release from the Hathnikund barrage, let’s take a quick look at the numbers.   

 According to data shared by the CWC and accessed by research organisation South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDARP), the Yamuna breached the danger mark in Delhi in August 2019, after Haryana had released a record 8.28 lakh cusecs of water into the river from the Hathnikund Barrage. Before this, the highest record for water in the Yamuna released by Hathnikund Barrage was 8.06 lakh cusecs in June 2013.  

While the amount of water released this time (3.79 lakh cusecs) is significantly lesser than what was recorded in 2013 and 2019, the flooding has broken all records.   

Bhim Singh Rawat, water conservation activist and associate coordinator at SANDARP, told The Quint, “When you look at the cumulative (peak) water released from Hathnikund this year, it is more than half of the number we see in 2019 and 2013. At least 8 lakh cusecs water has been discharged from the barrage in Yamuna only twice... But the 1978’s Highest Flood Levels (HFL) had never been crossed in 45 years until now.”  

Note: The graph shows details of the peak discharges and flood level attained at the Old Railway Bridge in Delhi since 1978.

(Source: CWC)  

'Hathnikund Barrage is not a Storage Dam'

Rawat attributes this year’s flooding towards encroachments on Yamuna’s floodplain and riverbed and said that this has reduced the flood carrying capacity of Yamuna in Delhi. “The floodplain is being reduced and encroached upon significantly compromising its longitudinal and lateral connectivity,” he said.  

Meanwhile, Manu Bhatnagar, Principal Director of the Natural Heritage Division at the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) said that heavy rainfall in a short period of time is the primary reason for the rising water levels in Yamuna. 

Responding to the allegations that water was “intentionally” released to Delhi, Bhatnagar said, “A barrage is merely a shallow structure which, unlike a dam, does not store any water. Water comes in the river and is diverted to the canals as and when required”.   

Explaining why the water was not diverted to the Western and Eastern Canals, Bhatnagar said, “Usually water is diverted to reach the fields of UP and Haryana for irrigation, and this amount is regulated. If you keep diverting water there, the canals will not have the capacity to take it and the fields will get flooded. This is why the water has come down to Delhi”.   

Refuting the claims of AAP, engineer-in-chief of Haryana Irrigation and Water Resources department, Vijay Garg, said, “The Hathnikund Barrage is not a storage dam but a diversion structure. No storage is possible at the barrage and whatever inflows come in, river Yamuna is bound to reach Delhi”.   

Garg said that the water is regulated following CWC guidelines. “We can only regulate water and cannot stop or speed up its flow. If the flow of water exceeds 1 lakh cusecs, there will be no flow into the western and eastern canals and the entire water will be discharged into the Yamuna as both canals cannot withhold the flow of water”.   

A Solution for the Future?

In his report titled ‘Why Unprecedented Yamuna Water Levels even at moderate releases?’, Rawat lists two main solutions:  

1. Delhi must keep Yamuna floodplains intact with the river. 

2. There is an urgent need to increase the flood cushion in river’s city stretch.   

“Flooding is a natural cycle and an essential feature of a river. The Yamuna flood spell has once again reinforced the significance of floodplains for a city and river. At the same time, encroached and abused floodplains and river Yamuna have the potential to jeopardise the normalcy of the national capital and bring large part of city underwater,” he concluded.