Yamuna Floods Overwhelm Delhi, Raising Public Health Concerns

As of September 6th, 2025, Delhi has been grappling with severe flooding from the swollen Yamuna river for more than four days. The high water levels have prevented major drains from emptying into the river, leading to persistent waterlogging in neighborhoods across the city, particularly in the north and east.

The situation has been exacerbated by the shutdown of one of Delhi's primary water treatment plants at Wazirabad for nearly 36 hours, disrupting supply to large parts of the city. Experts now caution that the combination of stagnant water and disrupted services could trigger a public health crisis, as the risk of vector-borne and water-borne diseases grows with each passing day.

Officials explain that the Yamuna's high levels have caused a backflow, flooding low-lying areas as drains are unable to empty into the river. With the Hathnikund barrage continuing to release water, the Yamuna is not receding, leaving residents in colonies near the river to deal with pools of stagnant water that have become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and contaminated local water supplies.

Public health experts caution that such conditions are fertile ground for outbreaks of diarrhoea, typhoid, cholera, and dengue. They point to Delhi's outdated drainage infrastructure, which was designed for a much smaller city and is now overwhelmed by the present population and changing rainfall patterns.

Efforts to update the city's drainage master plan have languished for years, with only the Najafgarh basin plan making progress so far. Until a comprehensive solution is implemented, Delhi remains dependent on a system that can handle only up to 50mm of daily rainfall, leaving the city vulnerable to the increasingly common heavy downpours.