At midnight on Sunday, the level of the Yamuna started to rise. Six hours later, it had increased by 3.5 feet and was steadily crossing the warning mark even as the Delhi government convened a meeting to decide the appropriate course of action. Despite warnings issued through boats engaged by the administration on Sunday evening, a few residents on the 32 ghats that constitute the bank have made provisions to evacuate.
As they continued with their daily routine and various agencies visited to discuss the issue, the water level continued to submerge the concrete steps at the ghats. The river, which had crossed the 204.88-metre warning level for flooding at 11 a.m. on Monday, officially breached the danger mark of 205.33 metres by 6 p.m.
“Even if we were to leave, someone will have to stay with all our belongings to ensure safety,” said Sunil Sharma, a pandit, who resides at the ghats, adding that residents had been verbally assured that there was nothing to worry.
Mr. Sharma is also the cashier of the Yamuna Ghats Panda Association which, in a request to the sub-divisional magistrate, asked for temporary tents with accompanying toilets, electricity, drinking water and doctors in the area. The provisions started to arrive only at 4.30 p.m. on Monday.Not all residents were aware of the provision for tents.
Ram Kumari, 58, who lives with her 12-member family at ghat number 24, said, “If there is a flood, we will move with our stuff to our roof. The government has never helped us and is unlikely to help in the future too. They’ll come once our stuff is ruined. We have to take care of ourselves.”
A resident of the lowest ghat said that not once had she moved to the tents in her 25 years of living at these ghats.
“There are losses every year. How much can we protect? One does feel scared when it floods but there is nothing to do,” she said.
Sumit Sharma, a young pandit who inhabits a house in ghat number 22, said, “We’ll only leave if the water rises beyond one level. Otherwise, we will stay here. Wonder what we’ll do if the level rises further at night.”
At Sumit Sharma’s ghat number 22, over 100 yatris had stopped by to bathe in the Yamuna before travelling to Rajasthan. With more annual visits scheduled for this time of the year, the situation would only get more complicated.
Accomplished swimmers
The actual flooding, according to Mr. Sharma, didn’t bother residents as much as its aftermath.
“We don’t have a problem with the flood. We can take care of the people. Everyone here knows how to swim since they were children. Our problem is with the silt the water will leave behind once it recedes. We cannot clean it and the government lets it sit for two months, spreading malaria and other diseases.” Life, he added, was in the hands of God and land was in the hands of the government.
