Day after the fire: satchels, school books and board dreams buried in Appa Pada’s debris

Mumbai: In addition to destroying their homes, the massive fire that gutted over 3000 hutments at Appa Pada in Malad east on Monday, is also derailing the examinations.

On Tuesday morning when HT reached Appa Pada, it was to find several students scouring through the ash and the debris of what was their homes to retrieve their text books and satchels. Four class 10 students who study in nearby Marathi and Hindi-medium civic schools said they had lost their hall tickets, textbooks and notebooks in the fire that was triggered by Monday’s cylinder blast.

With Mathematics Part-II (Geometry) exam scheduled for Wednesday, Minakshi Jaiswal and her twin Sakshi, Prerana Sadawarte and Monu Gupta were worried sick about appearing for their board exams and entering their exam centre without hall tickets.

“I do not know how I will give my exams and what will happen tomorrow. All my books are burnt and I have nowhere to go and study. Because of the fire, there is no power either to study at night.” said Sadawarte while trying to go through the pile of her burnt books to see if anything can be salvaged.

While Sadawarte studies in Marathi medium, Monu Gupta and the twins Minakshi and Sakshi study at a nearby Hindi medium school. The mother of the twins, Anita Jaiswal, was almost in tears, as she fretted about them possibly losing a year. “I don’t whether they even remember any of what they have been revising,” she said.

“They have no time left (before the next paper), they have no books or hall tickets left now.” Most of the students of Appa Pada were at home studying for their papers when the fire erupted. Not only did they have to leave in a hurry and after the fire brigade’s cooling operation, their homes were swimming in water and ash. Most of them spent the night at a relief camp set up by the BMC while a few managed to go to their friends’ homes in the neighbourhood.

One of them, Mayuri Thombre, 16, said she went over to her friend’s place to study for her exam on Wednesday. Her mother Pranali was at their destroyed home, trying to find the rest of her books. “My daughter has approached her teacher to see if she can get a duplicate hall ticket,” she said.

Student unions have stepped up to support these children and so has the former corporator from the area, Vinod Mishra who has requested all schools in the vicinity to let the Appa Pada’s students sit for the board exams.

“I have asked all schools in my area to allow the students to sit for the exams. We are also trying to see that students can get duplicate hall tickets from their school,” said Mishra.

Rohit Dhale, president, Chhatra Bharti, a student union, has also written to the school education minister Deepak Kesarkar on Tuesday demanding leeway for the students affected by the fire.

The letter read, “There is no study material left in hand to study and when the house is in ashes, due to the huge stress, the students have no mental space to face the exam at all. It is requested that efforts should be made to provide psychological support to the students.”

Dhale also demanded counseling should be provided to students so that they can also opt for supplementary exams (in July-August) if they fear poor scores in this exam due to stress, and added that free textbooks and educational materials should be made available for these students.

Meanwhile, Subhash Borse, Mumbai division secretary for Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) said, “Students can get a copy of their hall ticket from their respective schools. They need to approach the principal of the school who will provide with a copy. If any students fail to approach the school, examination center can also allow them to write exam after submitting a self-bond.”