Taking cognisance of the warning issued by state meteorological centre, Dehradun Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Arun Mohan Joshi on Monday issued instructions to all police stations and posts in-charge to ensure safety of the families living in the slum areas on the banks of Rispana and Bindal rivers. A number of homes on the river banks were flooded during the morning as the water level rose to above the danger level.
Following the instructions of the SSP, public address system was used to warn people living in the riverside slums to stay alert during heavy rainfall. Women and children residing in slums on the banks of Bindal river near Bindal bridge said, “Our water pipeline was broken due to heavy rainfall in the morning. The water came inside the rooms in some of the homes but no long lasting harm was done. The only problem is that we have to go to a distant site to collect potable water.”
When asked about the problems they had to face on daily basis they said, “Where else can we go? Most of the families that are living here are from Bihar. We are on our own.”
Families living in slums on the banks of Rispana river also have accepted water entering parts of their homes during monsoon season as part of their life. When asked whether any local representative had come to inquire about their condition, they said that politicians only remember them during the time of elections.
