Lucknow: Newly married Rubina Ansari, who moved from Sitapur to Millatnagar in Faizullaganj barely a month ago, returned to her house as floodwater receded, hoping to retrieve her belongings. Her house, which she had recently set up with her husband, an auto mechanic, was submerged.“We shifted here a month ago after our marriage. Everything in our house was submerged. Now, I will have to start all over again and rebuild our household,” she said.For families across Faizullaganj, receding Gomti has brought some relief but also presented the damage caused by more than 15 days of flooding. Residents who had spent days away from home are returning to retrieve clothes, furniture, food grains and other essentials.Hayatnagar resident Shameem Khan, who runs a tailoring shop, said the flood destroyed his livelihood. “The manual sewing machines are still working and need only minor repairs, but the automatic machines are completely damaged,” he said.The flood affected over 1 lakh people in Lucknow, Faizullaganj being among the worst-hit areas. An estimated 40,000 to 50,000 houses in the locality were submerged more than halfway in floodwater.Returning home remains difficult for many. Roads in several localities are still inundated, forcing residents to use boats. Vehicles remain submerged, while stored food grains, clothes and household essentials have been damaged. Several families have moved into rented accommodation after floodwater entered their homes.Residents now face the task of cleaning their houses, assessing losses and replacing damaged belongings. For daily-wage earners and small business owners, the loss of income and the cost of temporary accommodation have added to their difficulties.Flooding has disrupted religious activities too. Maa Chandrika Devi Dham temple remains closed due to waterlogging, depriving devotees of offering prayers on the first day of Navratri. According to local reports, this is the first time flooding has prevented devotees from visiting the temple on the festival’s opening day.Although the water level is falling, many families are unsure when they can return permanently. For them, the challenge is not just going home, but rebuilding lives disrupted by the floods.Meanwhile, the teams deployed by the Lucknow Municipal Corporation started spraying anti-larva chemicals and sprinkling the bleaching powder to curb the chances of vector-borne diseases at the locations where water is receding.
