Only a metre or so of the foot-wide boundary wall of a primary school is now visible. Most its height is covered in water, hemmed in by a sea of invasive green hyacinth. Now, roughly 150 families must walk on the top of this wall to reach the outside world from Badhawar village in Haryana’s Hisar.
More than three months after floods submerged this village and large parts of the State, reptiles and insects, some poisonous, now live in the water, making this strip of wall both a lifeline and a hazard for these families. Temporary walkways — wooden planks precariously balanced on diesel barrels — connect the wall to houses, providing a passage over inundated streets below.
Meenakshi, 47, her face veiled, says her family had returned to the village just a fortnight ago. They had stayed on rent in Barwala town, about 7 km away, for over two months after the flood water entered their homes in the last week of August.
“Even after three months, the administration has failed to provide us safe connectivity. All of us, even the children, walk on this wall multiple times through the day for routine and chores. The children reach school carrying bags on their backs via this wall. The women fetch water on their heads dangerously balancing themselves on it,” says Meenakshi.
A group of students, who have just returned from school, stand next to her. Eleven-year-old Naresh, in a maroon blazer and grey pants, chimes in. “Pehle pehle dar lagta tha; ab nahi lagta,” (In the beginning I was scared; not any more), he says, with a grin.
As per the Kshatipurti portal — a government-launched online platform designed for farmers to register claims for losses due to natural disasters like floods and heavy rains — around 5.29 lakh farmers across 6,395 villages have registered loss of crop on more than 31 lakh acre land. Among the 22 districts, Yamuna Nagar remains the worst hit with 527 villages having been impacted, followed by Ambala (444) and Mewat (440). In Hisar, around 78,000 farmers across 276 villages have registered 4.71 lakh acre land on the portal, making it among the worst hit districts.
Pushed out by water
Upset over the state of affairs, Poonam, 36, grumbles that many mediapersons have visited the village several times since the flood, but those who actually “matter” never show up. “We brought it to the notice of the sarpanch but she flatly refused to help. She said she did not have the resources,” she says. Three years ago, they had faced a similar situation and stayed on rent in the town for five months. “Nothing has changed since,” she rues.
Partially bald, Nihal Singh, 67, in a white vest and pyjamas, says the water had entered homes and it was chest-high in the street outside, forcing them to take refuge at their relatives’ homes or rent houses in the town. “Most of the families have come back just a week ago and many are yet to return,” he says.
Off the 135-km State Highway 10 that connects Gohana, Jind, Adampur, and Barwala, Badhawar has a population of just over 10,000. It has been one of the worst hit villages in this region during the recent floods and still reels under its impact. Villagers claim that more than a third of the around 6,000-acre agricultural land went under water after the floods. Even three months after the calamity, several acres still remains water-logged with little help forthcoming from the administration, they allege.
“Koi nahi aaya poochne,” (No one came to inquire), says Mahender Singh, 61, guarding a borrowed pump set with which he plans to drain out the flood water from his fields in the afternoon. It may take a couple of days for the water to be drained out, he says. “We lost the entire kharif crop. If the farm is not prepared for the sowing latest by December-end, it will be too late for the next season’s rabi crop as well. It would be a huge loss, if we lose both seasons,” says the man, who owns 5 acres of agricultural land.
Recalling his ordeal, Mahender says his family left the village to stay on rent in Barwala for three months after the water entered their house. “I had to rent a space in a dairy as well for the buffaloes at ₹4,000 per month. We returned a fortnight ago to find our fields still inundated. The walls have developed cracks and the floor has caved in. The situation is really bad. We are on the verge of starvation,” he mumbles.
A playground inundated by floodwaters at Rajli village in Hisar, Haryana.
| Photo Credit:
Shashi Shekhar Kashyap
His elder brother Kapoora speaks about the 2022 flood. “We got the compensation for that just six months ago. It was meagre, only ₹9,000 per acre. Let’s see how long will it take this time for the government to distribute the compensation,” he adds, shooing away flies. Scratching his feet, Kapoora says wading through the stagnant flood water for weeks has caused skin allergies.
Claims and delays
The sarpanch’s husband Sunil, claiming to be her representative, says he had to partially bear the expenses of digging up a channel around the village to drain out the flood water from the agricultural fields more than two months after the calamity. “It takes months for the bills to be cleared causing further delay,” he says Sunil. He claims that around 300 houses were damaged during the flood but the patwari was yet to conduct a survey. “When I called him last, he said that he was deployed to prevent stubble burning,” says Sunil.
Superintending Engineer, Irrigation, Anand Sheoran, blamed the delay in digging up the channel on the internal politics of the village and farmers’ opposition. Sheoran says that the prolonged waterlogging was caused due to a rise in the region’s water table and the department was preparing a comprehensive plan to address it.
The primary school in the village too, remains inundated. The boundary wall is partially damaged. The head, Seema, says classes were shifted to a neighbouring school after the flood and they returned to the primary school’s building only a week ago.
“Since the school is still flooded, the students are not allowed inside without the teachers accompanying them. We wrote to the District Education Officer seeking quick repair of the boundary wall, but there is no word yet,” Seema says.
Over a week ago, Chief Minister Nayab Saini came to neighbouring Kharak Punia village to attend a function to commemorate the birth anniversary of a local hero. Subhash, a local villager, recalls that a large number of people from Badhawar went to the programme hoping for some announcement on flood relief distribution and the waterlogged fields, but the CM said nothing on these.
Saini, as per a Haryana government press statement on October 2, said that the verification of claims was under way, and in areas where crops had been damaged due to flooding, compensation of up to ₹15,000 per acre would be provided soon. He had also announced deferment of crop loans taken from cooperative societies and electricity bill payments.
The Kshatipurti portal shows the crop survey for Hisar has been completed, but Vikas, a farmer with 10 acres of land in Rajli village, says there was no communication from the administration on the survey and the compensation even three months after the flood. He claims that his loss, around ₹50,000 per acre, could run into several lakhs, if he lost the rabi crop as well.
A field affected by floodwaters in Rajli village of Hisar, Haryana.
| Photo Credit:
Shashi Shekhar Kashyap
“One can barely walk on the land; using tractors for ploughing is impossible,” says Vikas. He adds that the organisation of Sant Rampal Ji Maharaj, a controversial spiritual leader, supplied him and several nearby villages with pump sets to drain out the water, and there was no help from the administration.
In the Dalit Basti
Poli, a 47-year-old Scheduled Caste farm labourer, is one of the many in the Dalit Basti on the outskirts of Rajli village struggling, after floods destroyed livelihoods and homes. She would make ₹15,000-₹20,000 during peak kharif harvesting season every year, but this year’s floods have meant no work and a damaged house.
“Floods ravaged lakhs of acres, so there was no work,” she says, pointing to cracks in the walls and the caved-in floor of her house. Poli says repairs would cost over ₹1 lakh, but she had no money. Despite applying for compensation, no survey had been done so far, she claims.
Her daughter Mukesh, a graduate, recalls the struggles: “The toilets became dysfunctional during floods, and the women had to wade through knee-deep water to the fields just to relieve themselves.” Now, with groundwater levels high, the toilet floods often, costing ₹1,500 to clean every month. The piped drinking water runs muddy, forcing families to buy water daily for drinking and cooking.
Bansi Lal, a 50-year-old daily wager, recounts his struggles after returning to his house in the Dalit Basti two months post-floods. His home, ravaged by floodwaters, forced him and his family to seek shelter with his brother’s family. “When I returned a month ago, I found cracks had appeared in the walls. It is not safe to live here but we have no choice,” he says.
Cracks in the walls of a house affected by the floods at Rajli village in Hisar, Haryana.
| Photo Credit:
Shashi Shekhar Kashyap
Lal had applied for compensation in early September, but months have passed with no response from government agencies, he says. Work has been scarce; he’s managed just four days under MNREGA this year, back in July. His wife, a farm labourer, hasn’t fared better.
The “Khel Stadium” in the village still remains flooded. Suresh, says the youth in the village preparing for Territorial Army recruitment slated for the first week of December, go to the neighbouring Panghal village for practice.
Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, Hisar, co-ordinator, Sardanand Rajli, alleges that the response of the administration had been “lethargic” and despite the local MLA and Public Health Engineering Minister Ranbir Gangwa visiting the affected villages once, government agencies offered little help. “Soon after the floods, houses, schools, and anganwadis were all submerged and the roads were blocked under 2-3 feet of water.
“It seems the administration is punishing us for the way the farmers and the farm labourers stood united against the Modi government’s agriculture Bills in 2020,” says Rajli. Haryana is currently governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is also in power at the Centre. He adds that several non-profits like Hamara Pyar Hisar have helped them. Rajli however, praised the efforts of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam MD Ashok Garg in restoring the power supply in the region and ensuring its uninterrupted supply.
Repeated calls and messages to Sub-Divisional Officer Ved Prakash on the allegations of delay in survey and compensation distribution did not elicit any response.
Edited by Sunalini Mathew