Their temporary house in Bella Estate’s Moolchand Basti submerged, Randhir Rajput’s family is among 35 others camping on Mahatma Gandhi Marg in north Delhi’s Rajghat, with a swelling Yamuna inundating many areas in the national capital region over the last few days.
A truck equipped with temporary tent equipment stands nearby, but it hasn’t been of much help, claims Rajput. “We haven’t received any aid so far, not even a single bottle of water. This truck has been here for hours, yet no tents have been set up.”
The 55-year-old vegetable vendor is among over 20,000 people affected by the floods and rains in Delhi, facing a lack of clarity on steps taken by the Arvind Kejriwal government to provide food and shelter in the wake of flooding – amid rains and the release of water from Hathnikund barrage in Haryana.
District and sub-divisional administrations are engaged in relief work, providing makeshift tents and green carpets, but complaints have been piling up about the lack of amenities such as toilets at such facilities. On Friday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal told the media that these camps will now be shifted to schools in view of such issues.
Amid mounting criticism, Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj complained to the Lieutenant Governor that officials are not cooperating in relief efforts. “We wrote to the Chief Secretary on WhatsApp group to call NDRF otherwise floodwaters might enter into sensitive areas of Delhi. We also asked the DM. But our messages were ignored last night.”
A stark contrast
While some areas in north Delhi and Yamuna floodplains have been underwater for the past three days, more floodwaters submerged localities such as Bela Estate, Nigambodh Ghat, and Hanuman Mandir in Kashmiri Gate on Thursday. Many have been evacuated, taking with them whatever they could salvage.
Residents of Nigambodh Ghat area were relocated to Sarvodaya Vidyalaya near Mori Gate, but many are seeking refuge on elevated roads or under flyovers near Rajghat and Red Fort.
Newslaundry saw several families craft temporary shelters with personal belongings, tether livestock to roadside poles, and NGOs and good samaritans hand out meals to groups of children and elderly.
The contrast is stark at camps designated for kanwariyas, devotees of lord Shiva who carry Ganga waters as part of an annual pilgrimage in the Hindu month of Shravan. They have been set up by the Delhi government’s revenue department, with facilities such as water coolers, beds and mattresses. About 200 such camps, with pictures of Delhi CM Kejriwal, were announced on July 7 – days before flooding in Delhi.
But for Randhir Rajput and many like him, such amenities remain a distant dream. Since the water from Yamuna submerged their houses, residents of Yamuna Bank have either shifted to relatives’ places or have taken shelter on roads.
In Valmiki colony, near Hanuman Mandir at Yamuna Bazar, 45-year-old Sunita, tries to sit on a khatiya amid waist deep water, perplexed about how her family would spend the night. “Everyone is coming and recording a video but there is no help. No government official has visited us,” she alleged.
“My whole family is on the road. We are yet to figure out what to do, where to go,” said Saurabh, another local resident.
It’s not just ordinary individuals who are not aware of the details of official arrangements; confusion seems to have also seeped through official ranks. Police personnel deployed in the area, in conversations with Newslaundry, could not share any specific details about a relief camp.
“No official or anyone has visited us or told us clearly what to do or where to go. How would we know if there is any relief camp or shelter,” asked Bina, a resident of Valmiki colony.
Even the contractors engaged by the district administration for relief work were confused, with allegedly inconsistent official directions.
For example, near Rajghat, where Randhir Rajput’s family is camped, a contractor asked workers not to offload the truck carrying relief material. “The administration asked us to set up makeshift tents on Wednesday night. We set them up. Now they are saying tents should be removed as people will now be shifted to schools. There has been confusion,” the contractor told Newslaundry.
The contractor claimed makeshift tents were set up based on the instructions of the district and sub-divisional administration. “We had previously set up some tents three days ago, but unfortunately they were all submerged.”
But is this enough?
“No facilities have been provided. There are no toilets for women, and the conditions in which our livestock are being kept are distressing,” said a 50-year-old woman, among 60 camping on Raja Ram Kohli Marg near Red Fort, where tents were set up Thursday evening.
At a government shelter, lack of beds
Meanwhile, three kilometres away, the auditorium of Sarvodaya Vidyalaya at Mori Gate is packed with over 100 people, and complaints about a lack of adequate number of beds and mattresses. It was the only government shelter in North Delhi until Thursday.
“There are around a 100 people staying here. But there are only 20-25 beds and mattresses,” said Kamla, who came to the camp in the early hours of Thursday.
BJP’s district leaders are helping hand out food to the families lodged at the camp. They hit out at the AAP government, accusing it of doing nothing for the flood-affected, and credited the Lieutenant Governor for all the relief efforts so far.
“Is it even a relief camp? Except for beds and mattresses, what else did the Delhi government give? We are providing them with food. We will provide them food two times a day every day,” said RD Sharma, a local BJP leader.
AAP leader and the area MLA Rajkumari Dhillon visited the school in the afternoon to hand out biscuits and aerated beverages. Asked about the delay in setting up this camp, she refused to comment, saying this reporter was asking a “negative question”.
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