By Adnan Abidi and Gabrielle Fonseca Johnson
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – People living near a river running through India’s capital began returning to their homes on Monday as floodwaters receded five days after the Yamuna overflowed into the city.
The Yamuna River rose to its highest in 45 years last week following unusually heavy rainfall in the city, with runoff from hilly states to the north also causing its waters to swell. Thousands of people were evacuated to relief camps, the New Delhi government said, to escape the flooding.
Vinay Kumar Bhandari, 47, who had fled to a nearby school, returned to Yamuna Bazaar on Monday to find his belongings ruined and his house covered in mud.
“There was at least 12 feet of water in our house, an entire floor has been finished,” he said, standing in ankle-deep, brown water outside his home, with broken furniture and bricks floating around him.
Sunil Sharma, a priest living in the area, said all his electronic items had been damaged, while his bags and clothes were swept away altogether.
The Delhi government on Sunday announced compensation of 10,000 rupees ($120) for all affected families and said schools would provide books and uniforms to children who had lost these in the floods.
Even as residents began cleaning up their homes, Delhi Public Works Department Minister Atishi Marlena warned that water levels of the Yamuna had risen once again due to heavy rains in neighbouring Haryana state.
“Return to your homes only after the water level falls below the danger level,” she said in a Tweet on Monday afternoon.
Apart from areas near the river, several other parts of the city were inundated last week after five barrage gates meant to release floodwaters failed to open.
Increased water pressure damaged the regulator of a drain carrying floodwater to the Yamuna, causing water to return to the city and flood key areas, including around the iconic Red Fort and near the ITO area, where several government and private offices are located.
While most schools re-opened on Monday as water levels receded, 13 schools being used as relief camps and four near the banks of the Yamuna will remain closed until Wednesday.
The Delhi government has stepped up efforts to prevent diseases carried by mosquitoes and other insects due to the stagnant water standing across the city.
($1 = 82.0775 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Adnan Abidi and Gabrielle Fonseca Johnson; Additional reporting by Tanvi Mehta and Shivam Patel; Writing by Sakshi Dayal; Editing by Tom Hogue)
