The boundary wall of the primary school, approximately one meter wide, is now visible. Most of its height is covered in water, surrounded by a sea of invasive green hyacinth. Now, about 150 families from Badhawar village in Hisar, Haryana, have to walk on top of this wall to reach the outside world.
More than three months after floods inundated 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 threat to these families. Makeshift walkways – wooden planks balanced precariously on diesel barrels – connect the wall to homes, providing passage to the submerged streets below.
Meenakshi, 47, with her face covered, says her family had returned to the village only a fortnight ago. They were staying on rent for over two months in Barwala town, about 7 km away, after flood waters entered their homes in the last week of August.
Meenakshi says, “Even after three months, the administration has failed to provide us with secure connectivity. All of us, even children, walk over this wall several times a day for routine and work. Children reach school through this wall with bags on their backs. Women fetch water by balancing dangerously on their heads.”
A group of students, who have just returned from school, are standing next to him. Eleven-year-old Naresh, in a maroon blazer and gray pants, yells.At first I felt scared; I don’t feel like it anymore,” (Initially I was scared; not anymore), he says smiling.
According to the compensation portal – a government-launched online platform designed for farmers to lodge claims for losses due to natural calamities like floods and heavy rains – around 5.29 lakh farmers from 6,395 villages have registered crop losses on over 31 lakh acres of land. Of the 22 districts, Yamunanagar is the most affected, with 527 villages affected, followed by Ambala (444) and Mewat (440). In Hisar, around 78,000 farmers from 276 villages have registered 4.71 lakh acres of land on the portal, making it one of the worst-affected districts.
pushed out of the water
Frustrated with the situation, Poonam, 36, complains that many media persons have visited the village several times since the floods, but those who are really “important” never come. “We brought this to the notice of the sarpanch but he flatly refused to help. He said he did not have the resources,” she says. Three years ago, he faced a similar situation and was living on rent in the city for five months. “Nothing has changed since then,” she laments.
Nihal Singh, 67, partially bald and wearing a white vest and pajama, said water had entered houses and the water on the road outside was chest-deep, forcing him to take shelter in his relatives’ houses or rented houses in the city. “Most of the families have returned a week ago and many are yet to return,” he says.
On the 135 km long State Highway 10 connecting Gohana, Jind, Adampur and Barwala, Badhawar has a population of just over 10,000. It has been one of the worst affected villages in the region during the recent floods and is still under its influence. Villagers claim that more than a third of around 6,000 acres of agricultural land was submerged in water after the flood. They allege that even three months after the disaster, despite little help from the administration, many acres are still filled with water.
,no one came to ask“(Nobody came to ask),” says Mahendra Singh, 61, who is guarding a borrowed pump set, with the help of which he plans to drain flood water from his fields in the afternoon. It may take a few days to drain the water, he says. “We lost the entire kharif crop. If the field is not ready for sowing by the end of December, it will be too late for the next season’s Rabi crop. It would be a huge loss if we lose both the seasons,” says the man, who owns 5 acres of agricultural land.
Recalling his experience, Mahendra says his family left the village to live on rent in Barwala for three months after water entered their house. “I had to rent a space in a dairy for buffaloes at ₹4,000 a month. We returned a fortnight ago and found our fields still submerged. The walls were cracked and the floor had caved in. The situation is really bad. We are on the verge of starvation,” he grumbles.
Playground submerged in flood water in Rajli village of Hisar, Haryana. , Photo Courtesy: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap
His elder brother Kapura tells about the flood of 2022. “We received compensation for this only six months ago. It was very little, only ₹9,000 per acre. Let’s see how long it takes for the government to distribute compensation this time,” he says, swishing away flies. Scratching his feet, Kapura says walking in stagnant flood water for weeks has caused skin allergies.
Claims and Delays
The sarpanch’s husband Sunil, who claims to be their representative, says he had to partly bear the cost of digging a channel around the village to drain flood water from agricultural fields, more than two months after the disaster. “It takes months for the bills to be paid, which leads to further delays,” says Sunil. He claims that around 300 houses were damaged during the floods but the Patwari has not yet conducted the survey. “When I last called them, they said they had been deployed to stop stubble burning,” says Sunil.
Irrigation Department Superintending Engineer Anand Sheoran blamed the internal politics of the village and the opposition of farmers for the delay in digging the channel. Sheoran says the prolonged waterlogging was caused by a rise in the water level in the area and the department was preparing a comprehensive plan to deal with it.
The primary school of the village is also submerged in water. The boundary wall is partially damaged. Head Seema says that after the flood the classes were shifted to the neighboring school and they returned to the primary school building only a week ago.
“Since the school is still waterlogged, students are not allowed inside without being accompanied by teachers,” says Seema. “We have written to the District Education Officer for immediate repair of the boundary wall, but there is no news yet.”
More than a week ago, Chief Minister Nayab Saini had come to neighboring Kharak Punia village to attend a function to celebrate the birth anniversary of a local hero. Subhash, a local villager, recalls that a large number of people from Badhawar had gone to the program expecting some announcement on flood relief distribution and waterlogged farms, but the CM did not say anything on this.
According to the Haryana government’s press statement on October 2, Saini said that verification of claims is underway, and compensation of up to Rs 15,000 per acre will be provided soon in areas where crops have been damaged due to floods. He had also announced postponement of crop loan and electricity bill payments taken from cooperative societies.
The compensation portal shows that the crop survey for Hisar has been completed, but Vikas, a farmer with 10 acres of land in Rajli village, says there has been no communication from the administration on the survey and compensation even three months after the floods. They claim that if the Rabi crop is also destroyed, their loss, which is around ₹50,000 per acre, could go up to several lakhs.
A farm affected by flood waters in Rajli village of Hisar, Haryana. , Photo Courtesy: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap
“One can barely walk on the land; it is impossible to use a tractor for ploughing,” says Vikas. He further says that controversial spiritual leader Sant Rampal Ji Maharaj’s organization supplied pump sets to draw water to him and several nearby villages, and received no help from the administration.
in Dalit colony
Poli, a 47-year-old Scheduled Caste farm labourer, is one of many people in the Dalit settlement on the outskirts of Rajali village who are struggling after the floods destroyed livelihoods and homes. She used to earn ₹15,000-₹20,000 every year during the peak Kharif harvesting season, but this year’s floods mean no work and a damaged house.
“The floods destroyed lakhs of acres of land, so there was no work,” she says, pointing to the cracks in the walls and sunken floors of her house. Polly says the repairs would cost more than ₹1 lakh, but she did not have the money. They claim that despite applying for compensation, no survey has been conducted so far.
His daughter Mukesh, a graduate, recalls the struggles: “Latrines became unusable during floods, and women had to wade through knee-deep water into the fields to relieve themselves.” Now, due to high groundwater levels, toilets often get flooded, costing ₹1,500 every month to clean. Drinking water coming from pipes becomes dirty, forcing families to purchase water daily for drinking and cooking.
Bansi Lal, a 50-year-old daily wage labourer, recalls his struggles after returning to his home in a Dalit colony two months after the floods. His home destroyed by flood waters forced him and his family to seek shelter with his brother’s family. He says, “When I returned a month ago, I saw that there were cracks in the walls. It is not safe to live here but we have no option.”
Cracks in the walls of a house affected by floods in Rajli village of Hisar, Haryana. , Photo Courtesy: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap
Lal had applied for compensation in early September, but several months passed with no response from government agencies, he says. Work has become scarce; In July this year, they got only four days under MNREGA. His wife, a farm labourer, fared no better.
The “sports stadium” in the village is still filled with water. Suresh says that the youth of the village, who are preparing for the Territorial Army recruitment to be held in the first week of December, go to the neighboring Panghal village for practice.
Sardanand Rajali, coordinator of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, Hisar, alleges that the administration’s response has been “sluggish” and that despite local MLA and Public Health Engineering Minister Ranbir Gangwa once visiting the affected villages, government agencies offered little help. “Immediately after the flood, houses, schools and Anganwadis were all submerged and roads were blocked under 2-3 feet of water.
Rajali says, “It seems that the administration is punishing us for the way farmers and farm laborers united against the Modi government’s agricultural bills in 2020.” Haryana is currently ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is also in power at the Centre. He says that many non-profit organizations like Hamara Pyaar Hisar have helped him. However, Rajali appreciated the efforts of Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam MD Ashok Garg for restoring power supply in the area and ensuring its uninterrupted supply.
Repeated calls and messages to Sub-Divisional Officer Ved Prakash on the allegation of delay in survey and compensation distribution received no response.
ashok.kumar@thehindu.co.in
Edited by Sunalini Mathew
