When the floodwaters of the Yamuna River gushed into Bindu Pandey’s home in New Delhi, she knew her family had to leave instantly.

Relentless monsoon rains have unleashed some of the worst flooding in decades across northern India, displacing hundreds of thousands in recent weeks.

Forced to abandon their belongings, the family sought shelter in a relief tent arranged by the authorities near their flooded homes.

On Friday, days of torrential rains left that shelter tent inundated as well and the family was shifted into a school some 7 kilometres (4.3 miles) away.

"When the water began to rise, we got scared. The children were crying. We had to take out our children from there,” 40-year-old Pandey said.

The Yamuna River originates in the Himalayas and runs through India’s capital city of New Delhi.

Families such as Pandey’s that live near its banks have been subjected to temporary displacements in the past after widespread flooding in monsoon season.

But this season’s rains have been much heavier than recent years, making the river breach danger levels and putting hundreds of low-lying areas at risk.

Pandey said there is not much she will be able to salvage from her flooded home when the waters recede.

She is worried the accumulated sludge and mud will take a lot of effort, money and energy to clear away.

She is also particularly concerned about her children’s study books, which she says must have been destroyed in the floods.

“We had placed them on racks. How will my children read from those books now?” she asked.

Pandey said her family was also affected by flooding in 2023.

Every year, the monsoon brings 80% of South Asia’s annual rainfall in a season that starts in June and ends in mid-September.

But in recent years, it has become erratic and more extreme, delivering death and destruction through floods and landslides.

In August, heavy rains, flash-floods and cloudbursts battered much of north India, killing hundreds of people and displacing over a million more.

They also destroyed homes and thousands of acres of agricultural crops.

AP Video shot by Piyush Nagpal