Yamuna floods displace 500 families in Faridabad; Admin on high alert

Fourteen villages remain vulnerable as the river continues to rise following heavy discharge from the Hathnikund barrage.

Nearly 500 families were displaced after Yamuna floodwaters surged through Basantpur and adjoining floodplain settlements, submerging homes and triggering a high alert. Authorities said rescue and relief efforts are underway, with teams on vigil as water levels continue to rise.

Houses inundated near banks of overflowing Yamuna river after heavy monsoon rains. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

Fourteen villages remain vulnerable as the river continues to rise following heavy discharge from the Hathnikund barrage. After discharge from the Hathnikund barrage, water takes approximately 48 hours to reach Faridabad, officials said.

Officials recorded the Yamuna’s level at 202.70 metres on Tuesday, below the warning mark of 204.50 metres, but warned that continued discharge and heavy rainfall upstream could worsen the situation. To be sure, the danger mark for Yamuna’s water level is at 205.33 metres. Water released from Hathnikund typically takes 48 hours to reach Faridabad. With the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issuing an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall until September 5, authorities are treating the situation as “evolving”. 

The Yamuna’s water level in Faridabad is tracked by the district administration, Irrigation Department, and HSPCB at points such as the Okhla Barrage, Agra Canal, and villages including Mohana, Latipur, Basantpur, Ismailpur, and Agwanpur.

Admin on high alert 

Faridabad deputy commissioner Vikram Singh described the situation as “sensitive but under control.” He said, “The administration has made all necessary arrangements to support families and their livestock in the flood-affected areas. We have identified safe shelters where people can stay, and fodder and medical care have been arranged for cattle. Our teams are working round-the-clock to ensure that no family is left without assistance.” 

Singh added that most families had either shifted to government shelters or to relatives’ homes in nearby towns. “For cattle, arrangements have been made at Gaushalas, and every affected village has a designated relief point. We appeal to citizens not to risk staying behind. Shelters are ready with food, water, electricity, and medical facilities,” he said. 

The administration has converted government schools, community centres, and panchayat bhawans into temporary shelters, while emergency helplines (0129-2227937, 0129-2226262) are active round the clock. District teams are patrolling flood-hit areas in boats and trucks. “Our priority is simple...no loss of life,” Singh noted. 

The Haryana government, meanwhile, has cancelled leave for all divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners, superintendents of police, and sub-divisional magistrates during this period. Rescue equipment, boats, and medical teams are on standby, while coordination with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been intensified. Engineers are inspecting embankments and sandbagging vulnerable stretches. 

A senior irrigation department official, requesting anonymity, said, “If rainfall in the upper catchments continues, the river may cross danger levels in the coming days.” 

Families uprooted overnight 

For displaced residents, the disaster is an annual ordeal. Forty-six-year-old Mahinder Singh, a carpenter who migrated to Faridabad in 2005, lost his two-room pucca house in Basantpur to rising waters on Sunday. “All my savings are gone. I had put nearly ₹20 lakh into building it, the only security I could give my children. Now I am back on the streets. Even if I work my whole life again, I will not be able to raise another home,” he said, as his family took shelter under a tarpaulin tent pitched at a government school. 

Across Basantpur, families scrambled with whatever they could salvage — sacks of flour, school bags, charpoys, and trunks of wedding clothes. Cattle were herded to higher ground. Children clung to parents, while women held cooking pots high above the muddy water. 

For Meena Devi, a domestic worker, the ordeal has become routine. “Every year the Yamuna rises, and every year we are forced to abandon our homes. We lose our utensils, our goats, even our clothes. We rebuild after the water recedes, but the loss never ends. It feels like we are punished for simply wanting a roof over our heads.” 

Meanwhile, Ramesh Chauhan, a farmer, recalled the chaos of 2023. “That year, people waded through chest-deep water, leaving everything behind. Many never got their belongings back. This time, as soon as we heard the alert, we rushed to move cattle and valuables. But how long can we live like this? Each monsoon, our lives are at the mercy of the river.” 

Seventy-year-old Hari Ram, who has lived along the floodplains for four decades, offered a weary explanation: “We bought land here because it was cheap. Officials now call it illegal and unsafe, but where can labourers and carpenters go? We cannot afford flats in the city. Each flood washes away our lives, but we rebuild, because this is the only land we can call our own.” 

Cycle of displacement and loss 

The affected colonies were carved out of floodplains over the past decade and sold cheaply to migrants desperate for land. A senior municipal official admitted requesting anonymity: “These are illegal colonies, no doubt. But once families move in, schools, shops, and temples follow. Eviction becomes politically sensitive, so people continue to live here despite the risk. Each flood is both a humanitarian disaster and a governance failure.” 

For families like that of Ram Avtar, who settled in Basantpur five years ago, the ordeal is inescapable. “Every year when the Yamuna swells, we know it will snatch our homes again. We pack whatever little we have and leave, spending thousands on trucks and rickshaws just to move our families and cattle. It feels like we are punished twice—once for living in a floodplain colony we could barely afford, and again for the endless cycle of displacement.” 

Dinesh Saini of Kidawli village said, “It has become a curse; every year we are forced to abandon our homes and spend more money on transport than we even earn in months. I take loans from relatives to move my family, goats, and belongings to safer ground, only to return later and rebuild what is left. We came here because land was cheaper, but now it feels like we are paying the price every single day.” 

Life in relief camps 

Conditions at relief camps reflect the strain. At a government school, Savitri Devi, 35, cradled her two-year-old daughter. “My child cries for milk, but we have only rice and dal here. The doctor says she needs medicines, but I have no money to buy them. Will the government care for us after the waters recede? Or will we be forgotten again?” 

Nearby, schoolboys sat idle, their textbooks lost to the flood. Their father, Pradeep Kumar, a daily wager, said, “When floods come, schools shut, work stops, and homes drown. For poor families, life pauses for weeks. But expenses don’t stop. The rich can move elsewhere. We have no choice but to endure.” 

Elderly residents struggled even more. Kamla Devi, 68, said, “I cannot walk properly, yet we had to climb into a tractor to escape. We do not want to stay in the shelter, as it gets crowded. There is no privacy for women. We feel helpless.” 

Between survival and policy 

For residents like Mahinder Singh, the floods represent not just natural disaster but fragile survival. “We rebuild because we have no other option. Each year the Yamuna takes something from us. One day, it will take everything,” he said, watching waters swirl around the wreckage of his neighbourhood. 

Behind the official advisories lies a cycle of loss that repeats every monsoon, exposing both human vulnerability and governance gaps. As rainfall continues across Haryana and Delhi, Faridabad’s crisis may worsen before relief arrives.