Noida: Yamuna inundates 550 hectares, over 5,000 people moved to safety

Noida: The overflowing Yamuna has inundated around 550 hectares of land along its banks in Noida, impacted eight villages and displaced more than 5,000 people in flood-hit areas, officials said on Friday.

More than 3,500 animals, including cattle, dogs, rabbits, ducks, roosters, and guinea pigs, since Thursday have been brought to safety from the submerged areas, officials said.

Teams of the NDRF, the SDRF, the PAC, local police and firefighters continued to move people and animals from risky areas to safer locations, they said. Noida Authority CEO Ritu Maheshwari, District Magistrate Manish Kumar Verma, and Police Commissioner Laxmi Singh oversaw the rescue and relief operations at the ground, they added. Human rescue was almost over by Friday afternoon but an estimated 300-400 animals were still stuck in the low-lying floodplains, according to officials.

“Around 550 hectares of land along the Yamuna in Noida is currently submerged in water. Since yesterday, around 5,000 people and around 3,500 animals have been moved to safer locations,” District Magistrate Manish Kumar Verma said.

“People of eight villages have been impacted due to this in Noida. Proper arrangements for their stay and food have been made at four shelter homes and medical teams have also been stationed at the site,” Verma said.

Maheshwari said her department is providing human and other resources required for rescue and relief operations. “As the flood alert was issued, we evacuated all cattle from our cow shelter which had been inundated. For the people, the community centres of Noida Authority have been converted into shelter homes,” Maheshwari said.

Additional DCP (Noida) Shakti Mohan Avasthy said the human rescue from inundation was “almost over” by Friday evening. “There are almost no more distress calls from stranded people but some animals, including cattle, are still stuck and efforts are underway to rescue them,” Avasthy said.

Additional DM and nodal officer for relief work Atul Kumar said more than one quintal of jaggery was being procured to feed the cattle stranded deep inside the inundated area.