Yamuna floods 2025 raise alarms over changing river patterns and shrinking carrying capacity

By Jag Jivan  

During the 2025 southwest monsoon, the Yamuna experienced one low, one medium, and one high flood spell in its upper segment, leading to a temporary but noticeable improvement in water quality along the Delhi stretch. According to a detailed analysis by the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), the river received substantial flows for nearly six weeks—from the last week of July to the first week of September—owing to heavy rainfall in its catchment areas.

In contrast, the 2024 monsoon was notably deficient. The peak discharge at Hathnikund Barrage in Yamuna Nagar that year was only 87,017 cusecs for an hour on September 26, with flows above 50,000 cusecs lasting just ten hours in the entire season. Consequently, flood levels in Delhi failed to cross the warning mark of 204.5 meters, and water quality declined sharply.

The Haryana Irrigation Department classifies Yamuna floods into three categories: low (75,000–1.5 lakh cusecs), medium (1.5–2.5 lakh cusecs), and high (above 2.5 lakh cusecs). Operation of the Western and Eastern Yamuna canals is halted once inflows at Hathnikund exceed 1 lakh cusecs. In recent years, canal operations were suspended at lower thresholds of around 70,000 cusecs, reflecting increased risk levels.

The first medium flood spell this year occurred on August 17, when the river received over 1 lakh cusecs for 12 consecutive hours, peaking at 1,78,996 cusecs. A low flood followed on August 29 with discharges above 50,000 cusecs for 21 hours, peaking at 83,774 cusecs. The most intense spell came in the first week of September, when discharges remained above 1 lakh cusecs for 129 hours—from September 1 to September 5—with a peak flow of 3,29,313 cusecs on September 1.

The Central Water Commission’s data shows the river carried over 3 lakh cusecs for seven hours, 2.5 lakh cusecs for another seven hours, 2 lakh cusecs for twelve hours, 1.5 lakh cusecs for forty-six hours, and 1 lakh cusecs for forty-five hours. This flood spell coincided with heavy rainfall in Haryana, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh, enabling the river to flow vigorously from Yamuna Nagar to Etawah. The Yamuna crossed the highest flood levels at five monitoring sites, with particularly high readings in its middle reaches.

Notably, the September 2025 floods again caused near-record levels in Delhi, where the water at the Delhi Railway Bridge rose to 207.48 meters—just 0.01 meter below the historic 1978 peak. Curiously, upstream flood levels were lower, while downstream sites between Delhi and Etawah recorded higher peaks, suggesting altered river dynamics. Of the 16 flood monitoring sites between Kalanaur and Etawah, the highest flood levels were breached at seven, six of them downstream from Delhi.

SANDRP attributes these shifts to extensive sand mining, rising siltation, floodplain encroachments, and obstructive infrastructure. Upstream sand extraction has lowered riverbeds, while urban siltation has intensified in Delhi, Mathura, and Agra. Construction of riverfront projects, farmhouses, and colonies on floodplains has further reduced the Yamuna’s ability to absorb floodwaters.

New bridges and embankments across active floodplains—such as those at Nagli (Yamuna Nagar), Shergarh Tapu (Karnal), Smallkha (Panipat), Manjhawali, and the Eastern Peripheral Expressway—have disrupted the river’s natural flow and flood passage. Meanwhile, the absence of hourly discharge data from key barrages at Wazirabad, Okhla, and Gokul limits understanding of how these structures may aggravate floods downstream.

The 2023 and 2025 floods have highlighted a worrying trend of declining flood-carrying capacity and changing flow patterns in the Yamuna. SANDRP warns that unless authorities urgently map, manage, and protect the river’s floodplains in an integrated manner, future high floods could bring even greater damage and disruption.