NEW DELHI: The Noida link road below Mayur Vihar Phase 1 was swarmed with thousands of people who came there with their belongings packed after overflowing water from the Yamuna inundated their locality, Yamuna Khadar, on Tuesday.
The residents collected whatever they could beds, clothes, kitchen utensils, food, and rushed to a higher ground which the authorities demarcated for their stay until the water receded from the locality.
On Tuesday morning, the Yamuna’s water level remained above the danger level of 206.30 meters. The situation has displaced around 5,000 people who live in Yamuna Khadar and forced them to leave
their homes.
‘No evacuation aid from govt’
People were evacuated from low-lying areas in the floodplains and were rehabilitated to temporary settlements of tents and permanent buildings like schools in safer areas, according to officials. However, many complained of no support from the government in arranging transportation to the resettlement camps.
“When the water came inside our houses, we got afraid and started packing our belongings. It took us hours to reach here because of the rush. We have so many belongings which we can’t leave behind. Arranging a vehicle was a task which we wish the government should have provided,” said Vandana, resident of Yamuna Khadar.
“No one from the administration came to our rescue. We came here in the hope of shelter as it is the same place where we settled for a few days when a similar thing happened two months ago,” said Vandana. Vinod Kumar Singh, executive Magistrate, Mayur Vihar, said the people were informed beforehand but they ignored the warning till the situation became dangerous. “We were announcing since August 22 to vacate their places but they didn’t listen until the locality got submerged today,” he said.
Inadequate shelter, water, food & toilets
While the authority officials claimed that the announcement to vacate the area was made much earlier, the arrangement seen by the reporter revealed less than satisfactory preparation to rehabilitate 5,000 people. A little over a dozen tents were raised till the evening. Toilets and food were not arranged till then, while arrangements for only two water tankers were made, which were not present at the rehabilitation site.
“We are working on providing more shelters. We have a stock of 50 tents with us. The water tankers have been deployed but they will service rotationally in the area. An NGO has been roped in to provide food to the people,” Singh said.
According to him, around 3,000 people have settled in two sites of Mayur Vihar while the rest of the population has been sent to Preet Vihar and ITO.
Reviewing the lack of facilities, people asked, had they vacated right after the announcement, how would they have survived? “We have children to feed and women to protect. The lack of food and toilets are the biggest concerns,” said Dheeraj, a local from Khadar said.
Yamuna level breached danger level on Tuesday
On Tuesday morning, Yamuna’s water level remained above the danger level of 206.30 meters. The situation displaced around 5,000 people who live in Yamuna Khadar. The residents collected whatever they could — beds, clothes, food, and rushed to a higher ground which authorities demarcated for their stay.