Delhi floods: At Batla House relief camps, residents yearn to return home

Residents said that although food was being provided at the relief camps, livelihoods and education had been affected

With water levels in the Yamuna receding on Tuesday, many residents in southeast Delhi’s Batla House, whose houses were inundated, have initiated the cleanup and assessing the losses.

Located just a few metres from the river, several houses in the neighbourhood’s Dhobighat were flooded last week (Sunil Ghosh/HT)

Located just a few metres from the river, several houses in the neighbourhood’s Dhobighat were flooded last week. Water has receded from all the houses, leaving behind heaps of sludge. On Tuesday, Gulnaz was one of the many residents of the area who was clearing the sludge from her house. Besides the muck, small pools of water have become dens for heavy mosquito infestation.

“We did not evacuate our belongings thinking that water will not rise a lot. As a result, all our belongings — from the bed to our clothes — were drenched. Electric appliances such as phone chargers are not working any more. My husband’s Aadhaar card is misplaced too. The house is filled with sludge and stinks a lot. My son has also fallen in due to the foul smell,” said Gulnaz, who goes by her first name.

At the government relief centre in Batla House, which started filling up last Thursday, occupants keep moving back and forth as they clean their homes and transport items back to the centre. Rabia Parveen, a resident at the relief camp, said that she had started removing mud from the house and will move back entirely in the next two days.

While leaving for the relief centre last Thursday, Parveen carried a few schoolbooks that she could easily grab. Others that were left behind have perished in the floodwater. “My son is in Class 3. I was able to carry two or three books and kept others in the almirah. The floodwater submerged the almirah and all remaining books are drenched in water now,” said Parveen.

She added that although food was being provided at the relief camps, livelihoods and education had been affected. “We want to return to our house completely but there is no electricity. My child’s studies have been disrupted too and right now, there is no income of any kind. We are oscillating between the camp and the house,” said Parveen.