Noida floods: Stranded to die, 500 workers rescued from illegal farmhouses

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Yamuna banks in Noida this week, there were hundreds who were hired as help in farmhouses built illegally in the low-lying areas near the river, officials said. Government officials said the workers and staffers of the farmhouses — thousands in number — were not moved to safety in time even as advisories were issued well before the area got inundated. These farmhouses are located near Nagli Wajidpur village in Sector 135 on the other side of the pushta (embankment) towards the Yamuna — some two kms off the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway.

«More than 500 such people were evacuated on Thursday and Friday from the farmhouses. As water entered the ground level, many of those stranded, including women, had taken shelter on second storey of the farmhouses. They carried some food and water with them which had started to run out,» an officer engaged in rescue and relief measures told PTI.

Many of these stranded people were discovered on Thursday when top police officers and administration officials took a boat ride deep into the flooded areas. Several teams of the National Disaster Response Force, the State Disaster Response Force, the Provincial Armed Constabulary, Noida Police, Fire Brigade, Noida Authority and local village residents were engaged in rescue operations. «Most of the structures in the floodplains are illegally constructed.

We demolished over 250 farmhouses in anti-encroachment drives in recent past. A survey estimated presence of around 500-600 more such illegal structures against which action would be ensured in coming days,» Noida Authority CEO Ritu Maheshwari told PTI during inspection of the site on Friday. The IAS officer said that the owners of many of the farmhouses have moved court to get a stay on