Residents of Yamuna Bazar in east Delhi on Tuesday, after the release of water from Hathni Kund barrage.
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
The rising Yamuna level has displaced nearly 40,000 people in the city, especially in east Delhi.
While many are living at risk having been forced to set up makeshift tents on roads bustling with traffic, others have been provided adequate accommodation by the Delhi government but have suffered irreparable losses. Many more are stuck at homes that are almost submerged.
At Khel Gaon near Akshardham Temple, the temporary homes of almost 60 families were washed away by the incessant rains. Meera Kumari, 30, said many of them have been living on the Delhi-Meerut highway inside temporary tents since Monday. Savitri Devi, another Khel Gaon resident, said they have not received much relief from the Delhi government other than drinking water.
A few kilometres away at Mayur Vihar Phase I, the government has provided sturdier tents to those displaced from Yamuna Khadar. One of the residents, Hira Lal, a farmer, rued, “I paid ₹30,000 for leasing 3 bighas of land for farming. Now all my crops are gone. The land owners can claim their losses, but how will we?”
At Yamuna Bazar, where a day earlier people were wading through knee-deep water, many homes have been almost submerged. “We cannot walk anymore, so we are forced to take boats to reach the main road,” said Sohan Kumar, while leaving for his sister’s house in Jahangirpuri.