Delhi Rain Updates | Streets turned into streams and marketplaces into pools of murky water on Wednesday as the Yamuna river continued to swell, flooding several low-lying areas of Delhi. At 1 pm, the river was flowing at 207 metres, prompting authorities to evacuate residents and shut the Old Railway Bridge for traffic.
While many escaped in time, families from Majnu ka Tila, Madanpur Khadar, Badarpur and Yamuna Bazaar now live in makeshift roadside shelters, waiting for the waters to recede and struggling with the loss of homes and livelihoods.
At Majnu ka Tila, shopkeeper Anup Thapa said he was forced to shut his store late at night. “We shifted most of our goods, but some still got spoiled. Even after the water goes, we will have to repair the shop, which will cost us,” Thapa was quoted by NDTV as saying. Thapa, who has moved into a roadside camp with his wife and three-year-old daughter, added, “This is the second time after 2023. I urge the government to clean the streets and fix the area so that such incidents don’t happen again.”
Delhi Rain: Families Displaced, Livelihoods Shattered
In Madanpur Khadar, families who lost their jhuggis are sheltering under plastic sheets. “All our belongings are inside. We could barely take out a few things. Women are facing a lot of problems as there are no toilets,” NDTV quoted resident Tayara as saying. Another person said families had “no food or utensils and were surviving only on biscuits and buns,” as cooking facilities were unavailable.
ALSO READ: ‘Why don’t you sit together and sort it out?’: Delhi HC asks Mahua Moitra over Henry’s custody
At Yamuna Bazaar, residents described the scene as if homes and shops were “standing in the middle of the river.” Shopkeeper Rohit Kumar said, “The month has just started, and our earnings are already gone. We still have to pay rent and resettle everything once the water reduces.”
Sachin Yadav, a shopkeeper at Monastery Market, said, “Our shop has been closed since yesterday. The whole family depends on it. It will take days for the water to recede, and till then we have no income.”
In Badarpur, floodwaters nearly submerged rooftops. Resident Asif stood carrying his belongings and said, “I built this house with years of hard work to live with my wife and children, and now it is underwater. Where should we go? There are still people stuck inside.”
As stranded families rely on temporary camps, volunteers and kiosks for essentials, scenes of submerged vehicles, stray dogs taking refuge on staircases, and residents wading through waist-deep water underline the scale of the disaster.
