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Streets turned into streams and marketplaces into pools of murky water as residents of low-lying Delhi areas rushed to save their lives and belongings as the Yamuna continued to swell. From shopkeepers in Majnu ka Tila to families in Madanpur Khadar and Badarpur, many now live in makeshift shelters, waiting for the waters to recede.
The Yamuna was flowing at 207 metres on Wednesday at 1 pm. Authorities evacuated people from low-lying areas and closed the Old Railway Bridge for traffic. But for displaced families, the real struggle will begin once the river recedes, as they piece together homes and livelihoods washed away by the flood.
The Central Water Commission said the swollen Yamuna had breached its danger mark on Tuesday in Delhi.
Local media reported that nearly 10,000 people had been evacuated to relief camps set up by the government along the main highways as a precautionary measure for those living in low-lying areas.
Residents living along the Yamuna in Delhi were evacuated in 2023 as well after floodwaters entered their homes and the river hit its highest level in 45 years.
At Majnu ka Tila, the busy market fell silent after water entered the lanes. Shopkeeper Anup Thapa said he evacuated his store around 11 pm. "We shifted most of our goods, but some still got spoiled. Even after the water goes, we will have to repair the shop, which will cost us," he said.
Thapa, who lived with his wife and a three-year-old daughter beside the shop, has moved to a roadside camp. "This is the second time after 2023. I urge the government to clean the streets and fix the area so that such incidents don't happen again," he added, pointing to electric wires hanging dangerously low above the floodwater.
In Madanpur Khadar, families who lost their jhuggis are staying under old plastic sheets tied along the roadside. "All our belongings are inside. We could barely take out a few things. Women are facing a lot of problems as there are no toilets," said Tayara, a resident.
Even stray dogs climbed staircases of deserted homes to escape the rising waters.
The monsoon season in India has been particularly intense this year, killing at least 130 people in August alone in north India, wiping out villages and destroying infrastructure.
Another person said, "Families had no food or utensils and were surviving only on biscuits and buns. We could not bring our cooking essentials, and now we have no facilities to cook - we are surviving on whatever we can buy from the kiosk." People were seen helping elderly parents wade through waist-deep water, while others sat in small roadside tents with whatever they had managed to save. Cars, motorcycles and furniture were submerged, while many residents stood far away, helplessly watching their homes getting submerged.
"Our shop has been closed since yesterday. The whole family depends on it. It will take days for the water to recede, and till then we have no income," said Sachin Yadav, a shopkeeper at Monastery Market.
At Yamuna Bazaar, the scene looked as if homes and shops were standing in the middle of the river.
"The month has just started and our earnings are already gone. We still have to pay rent and resettle everything once the water reduces," said Rohit Kumar, a shopkeeper.
Similarly, in Badarpur, the roofs of houses were barely visible above the floodwater. Asif, a resident, stood with belongings balanced on his head. "I built this house with years of hard work to live with my wife and children, and now it is underwater. Where should we go? There are still people stuck inside," he said.
Continuous rain prompted authorities to release water from dams, which has caused flooding in plains in India and Pakistan in recent days.
On the other side of the border, Pakistani authorities issued an alert for more floods in the eastern heartland province of Punjab on Wednesday, after India warned it would release water downstream from its dams, officials said.
New Delhi has previously given four such warnings to Islamabad, the officials said.
The worst floods in four decades have killed at least 43 people in Punjab, with more than 3.3 million affected since August 26, the provincial disaster management authority said.
The death toll across the country since the start of the monsoon season in late June stands at 881, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.
