Families homeless after rain floods hutments

Several tenements on the floodplains of the Yamuna near east Delhi’s Mayur Vihar have been inundated in incessant rain over the past two days, rendering over 25 families homeless. Locals alleged that mounds of soil and concrete waste, dumped on the floodplains this February, exacerbated the flooding.

Environment activists had raised the alarm about the dumping of soil in the area in February itself. Activists had alleged that the central public works department (CPWD), undertaking the construction of the new Parliament building using private developers, had been allowing the dumping of construction waste — including debris and soil from the site on the floodplains — in violation of an order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

CPWD officials had, however, denied the allegations back in February. When Hindustan Times reached out to CPWD on Friday, officials refused to respond. “Nearly 25 houses got flooded over the past two days. The situation has been aggravated by the mounds of mud and waste dumped there. A lake of sorts has formed amid the mounds and the hutments are right in the middle of the lake,” said Dev Pal, a local resident and field researcher for citizens’ group, Housing and Land Rights Network, which had filed a petition against the dumping in the area in February. NEW DELHI: