NEW DELHI: In March, her home was demolished in an anti-encroachment drive and now, her shanty on the bank of a swollen Yamuna is underwater. “Everything is lost again,” says Beena Devi, who has been moved to a relief camp along with her family from a slum in Rajghat area.
Some utensils, essentials and quilts was all the 57-year-old, her husband, three children and daughter-in-law could carry out of their house as authorities raced to evacuate them and hundreds of families on Tuesday as the water levels in the river rapidly started rising, above the danger mark.
Sitting at the ITO relief camp, Devi recalled how in March bulldozers razed her pucca house and those of others in the Rajghat area to make way for beautification project ahead of the G20 Summit in the national capital.
“Everything is gone again. We are not sure whether we will be able to return,” said Devi, whose family ekes out a living by growing vegetables on small piece of land, now submerged in the waters of the Yamuna.
“We moved from low-lying areas to upper areas after we saw the water levels rising. However, on July 11, government officials asked us to evacuate so we packed whatever we could and left,” said the 57-year-old, who to supplement the family income ran a roadside shop, which too has been swept away by flood waters.
She said not only her family but many have lost their source of livelihood and income. The Delhi government has set up relief camps -- tents supported by wooden poles -- on roadsides in areas along the Yamuna, and around 7,500 people have been evacuated to these camps.
However, many complained of poor facilities and arrangements. In a camp near the Yamuna Bridge, Tarawati, who has a farm at the Yamuna floodplains, said the flood has destroyed both her farm and her ‘juggi’ (shanty).
