The Delhi Government called an emergency meeting on Monday, a day after it sounded a flood alert for the national capital and asked people living in low-lying areas to move to safer places as the water level in the Yamuna inched close to the danger mark.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal will chair the meeting.

The Yamuna was flowing at 203.37m on Sunday evening and is expected to touch 207m on Monday as 828,000 cusecs water was released from Haryana’s Hathini Kund barrage at 6pm, an official said. Earlier this year, the government increased the danger mark for the water levels to 205.33 metres from 204.8 metres.

‘Water level in the Yamuna is rising due to heavy rain as well as the release of water from the Hathini Kund barrage. The water level may rise up to 207 metres by 10 am on Monday at the Old Railway Bridge (ORB) putting life and property at risk,’ said an order issued by Deepak Shinde, district magistrate (East).

The DM had asked the concerned districts where the Yamuna is flowing to make preparations for ‘complete evacuation’ of those living on the floodplains by 9am on Monday and relocate them to relief camps.

‘Tents are being erected and the work will go on for the night so that all arrangements are ready when the full-fledged evacuation process starts on Monday morning. , we have deployed civil defence volunteers to monitor the water levels during the night and alarm people immediately to vacate the area,’ Rajesh Choudhary, SDM of Vivek Vihar (Shahdara district), said.

Officials said the evacuation process in some areas such as south-east district has already been initiated and tents are being erected to rehabilitate people. They also said that 50 people were evacuated from Kanchan Colony in Wazirabad in north Delhi.

Traffic movements had to be shut at the Old Railway Bridge for several days in July last year, as the water levels had breached the danger mark.