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Even as hourly levels of the Yamuna River have dropped by a few centimeters since Friday, many areas across the capital are still waterlogged.
At the Tibetan Monastery Market in Civil Lines, near Shahdara Bridge, flood waters entered the area on Thursday and turned it from a shopper’s paradise into a muddy abyss plunging into the waters. On Saturday, shopkeepers returned to the market – which was still submerged in deep waters – to take stock of their shops and report significant losses. Popular for clothes, souvenirs, and food, the market houses about 350 businesses, most of which sell men’s clothing.
Many shop owners complained that they would have been more forthcoming had they been informed of the severity of the flood. “We don’t blame the government for the floods, but we blame them for not informing us… If they had done this this time, we would have written off our stock,” said Ghanshyam Sharma, owner of a clothing company.
Sonu, who owns a watch company, added: “In 2013, we removed our goods from stores after we received a serious warning. This year, not a single person told us, so most of us didn’t move our belongings.”
“The flood has greatly damaged my business; more than 500 of my watches are not working now after being submerged in the flood waters.”
Shopkeepers waded through the flood, collecting water from their shops in buckets and drying their wet clothes. Prema, who runs a clothing shop, said, “CM must have known about the seriousness of the floods, every shop in this area has suffered losses of more than Rs 5 lakh. Who will now bear the burden of our losses?”
Subhash Yadav, owner of Blazer Store: “More than 200 of my jackets, each one costing more than 2,000 rupees, are now wet.”
However, a senior government official denied the allegations of no announcements and said that field staff have made regular caller or public announcements since last week, asking low-lying residents to take appropriate action.
On the other hand, others expressed their satisfaction with the stability of the situation. “The water in the market was at least 8 feet deep on Wednesday, and I was worried it would take more than a week to drain the water. Fortunately, the water has receded by more than 5 feet now,” said store owner Mono.
Civil Lines was among the many areas in North, Northeast and East Delhi that were flooded, with water even entering homes and affecting vehicular traffic. Several roads in the area, including the ISBT Shahdara Link Flyover, were closed on Wednesday. They are open now.
Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic, District 2) SS Yadav said, “While the water level in the Yamuna River has decreased, it is still high near Rajghat and Red Fort and the area is still under water. Traffic police have restricted movement at Gita Colony Bridge.. Meanwhile, there is some amount of traffic on the borders like Singu, Tikri and Padarpur…”
He added that the city’s traffic has improved compared to previous days: “Based on (water) reduction, we will reduce traffic diversions and restrictions.”
Residents started playing in the water without any response to the warnings
Meanwhile, residents and their families took to the water-filled roads to take a dip and click selfies – despite warnings from the prime minister and the Delhi police. One such place was the road to Rajghat and the Red Fort, which remains closed to traffic and visitors.
“I’ve seen pictures of the Red Fort flooded on the news… No one in my family has seen this much water before, so we came here to have a look,” said Muhammed Ismail, an UCLA resident.
A police officer said, “Water has accumulated here (the area behind the Red Fort) due to sewage overflow… It smells bad, but it doesn’t deter visitors; more than 5,000 people have visited this place to play in the water since morning… We’ve been patrolling to make sure No unwanted activity.
Referring to a video of children playing in flood waters, CM Arvind Kejriwal warned that such activity can become fatal: “There are reports from many places that some people will play or swim in the water or go for a video/selfie. Please don’t This. This could be fatal. The danger of flooding is not over yet. The speed of the water is very fast. The water can rise at any time.”
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