Hindu refugees from Pakistan await help, face financial woes

New Delhi: Eighteen-year-old Anita, a Hindu refugee from Pakistan, points to a mound of bricks -- once a part of her home but now a reminder of the devastation caused by the Yamuna’s floodwater that submerged large swathes of Delhi last month.

While the floodwater has since receded, the Hindu refugees from Pakistan living near the riverbank in Manju Ka Tila continue to reel from the financial and health burden it caused. Unable to afford immediate repairs, many of these refugees continue to live in their damaged homes -- some with collapsed walls and broken doors. Many of them are bedridden after hurting themselves in the rush to evacuate to safety.

“The walls collapsed and the doors broke and we have to live with that. Our financial condition is such that we cannot immediately get the broken doors repaired,” Anita told PTI.

Following heavy rain in its upper catchment areas, the Yamuna in Delhi flowed above the danger level -- smashing the all-time record set 45 years ago by a significant margin.

The ferocious river turned the national capital’s roads into rushing streams, parks into watery labyrinths, and homes and shelters into submerged realms, severely disrupting daily life.