Mustafabad relief camp for Delhi riots victims flooded after rainfall, leaves inmates distraught     

Thunderstorms and heavy rains in Delhi flooded the relief camp located at Eidgah in Mustafabad leaving several of those affected at the site distraught. The tents were soaked, the beddings wet, and the compound had flooded. There is garbage strewn all over. People are standing huddled in groups as there are no dry spots in the camp.

The toilets are outside the camp but there is no covered path to access them. This makes it difficult for more people to access it. Clothes which were donated to the camp lie in a bundle at the corner of the camp.

“The situation is quite terrible. There is chaos all around. The people are confused, and they all want to go back. There are no proper relief facilities here and the situation here can lead to a breakout of a health hazard,” said Amrita Johri, a human rights activist working on the relief.

“The day before yesterday it had had rained, so we had got tables so that we can put mattresses on them. We have got foam beddings too. Now, that the sun is shining, the camp will get cleaned,” said Waseem Ahmed, a local Congress worker who helped set up the camp.

“We don’t know what to do. There doesn’t seem to be an end to our suffering. The government has shown no inclination to help us get back on our feet. We just want to go home. But, no one is doing anything to help us. How can we stay here in a flooded camp? I have five young children and one of them was burnt in the violence. She will catch an infection, but there are hardly any medical facilities here to ensure prevention,” lamented Khadija Khatoon, whose “house and motorcycle were burnt in the violence at Shiv Vihar.

“It was chaotic in the morning. The situation has settled now. Mobile creches are here and we have moved the children to a dry place. The women are fine. There is sunshine now and hopefully everything will dry,” said Ranjana Prasad, member of the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

There has been a demand from human rights activists to move the people to schools, which have been shut due to Coronavirus. “There must be pucca structures at the camp with adequate toilet facilities. Primary schools in the area can be used as relief camps. There are still hundreds of people who are still being accommodated in private homes and they also need to move to shelter camps,” said Annie Raja, General Secretary of National Federation of Indian Women.