Life upended for Delhi's ghat-dwellers as Yamuna breaches 45-year record

Days spent swimming to their homes to salvage their belongings; nights spent cramped in makeshift camps

The Yamuna is in spate. And 31-year-old Ankur (he gives only his first name) is assessing the damage it has caused. A resident of New Delhi’s Yamuna Bazaar, he plans to move his family of 25 to the rooftop of their semi-submerged house until the water level recedes.

Suddenly, he receives a phone call from his family asking for his grandmother’s medicines. So, he wades into the water and then swims across to his house to retrieve them. Others around him have also been swimming to and from their homes, trying to salvage whatever they can. The Yamuna Bazaar on the banks of the river in Kashmere Gate in the old city of Delhi has been badly hit by the weekend rains.

The water level of Yamuna in Delhi reached 207.55 metres on Wednesday afternoon – breaking a 45-year record of 207.49 metres. According to the data provided by the Central Water Commission, the capital is set to hit the 207.72-metre-mark by Wednesday night.

While Delhi Police has imposed Section 144 in the capital’s flood-prone areas and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is conducting emergency meetings, those living on the banks of the Yamuna have taken charge of their own rescue.

The residents said that while knee-level waterlogging is common during monsoon every year, they haven’t encountered such a situation in years.

“The water was at the knee level until morning, but now it has crossed the waist-head level,” said a ghat resident who did not wish to be named. “I work in a sweets shop and plan to temporarily shift there with my family of six,” he added.

The men have stationed themselves on the banks of the Yamuna to guard their homes. And the women and children are waiting by the roadside amid lack of arrangements.

“Two National Disaster Response Force teams with about 20 District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) members, along with civil defence volunteers, are running the rescue operations in flood-prone areas, including the Monastery Market and New Aruna Nagar,” said Harish Mathur, district project officer, DDMA central. He added that DDMA has set up six relief camps, which have helped rescue more than 500 people until now. These camps are at Kanchan Colony near Rajghat, Yamuna Bazaar near Kashmere Gate and Burari Pusta road.

This correspondent found that the Yamuna Bazaar relief camp is yet to be fully operational. The displaced people themselves are the major volunteers in the camp setting-up team. “We are keeping an eye on the situation, which has worsened since morning,” said a civil defence worker. He said since he did not know how to swim, it was the residents who were swimming to their homes to rescue their belongings.

The residents said they would take turns in the night to monitor the water level while they continue to take stock of their belongings – fridge, bed, and other electronic appliances – inside their semi-submerged homes.

A resident of Ghat Number 13, who is a gym trainer, said that he will have to take several days off from work due to this situation. “I have sent my children to a nearby dharamshala and I am staying by the roadside.” He lists the items his family has lost, among them a fridge and a cooler.

The few residents who own cars here have temporarily turned them into their homes. They are all praying that tomorrow will be kinder.