New Delhi: In a crowded relief camp on Delhi’s Signature Bridge, families displaced by the Yamuna’s rising waters wait out long, humid nights. Food is little more than sustenance, toilets are scarce, and mosquitoes buzz relentlessly. Among them is a kachori seller, passing his days in uncertainty — waiting for life to restart, yet stuck in limbo until the waters recede.
Lakshman Das Kori, a Pakistani Sindhi refugee, recalls the moment his basti was swallowed by the Yamuna. “There was an announcement just one or two hours before the flood. We were still lifting our things to the road when the water came,” he says. For four days after leaving their homes, his family and neighbours lived under a tarpaulin sheet, waiting for relief. “DDMA is still setting up their tents — they weren’t here earlier,” he adds.
Kori and dozens of others have been living only metres away from their waterlogged homes, unable to work and struggling with shortages. “Food comes only twice a day, but it is just rice and dal. Children are falling sick because of the water. It is so hot, yet there is no provision for electricity,” he complains. Before toilets were installed, he adds, families were forced to relieve themselves in the jungle behind the camp.
Kori’s account mirrors what many displaced families inside Delhi’s relief shelters describe: cramped quarters, limited meals, and a lack of basic sanitation. With no steady electricity supply, humid nights are spent swatting mosquitoes, while fevers spread quickly among children. Many children are missing school, as government schools have been repurposed as shelters for the displaced.
While Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) officials and RSS volunteers are present, their efforts do little to ease the hardships faced by residents. Yet amid the struggle, a quiet resilience endures. Families help one another, share what little resources they have, and try to maintain some sense of normalcy for the children. One striking scene was the improvised use of solar panels to power an electric fan. Still, as days stretch into weeks, uncertainty dominates, and the long wait for the waters to recede becomes a test of patience and endurance.