Month on, Malad fire victims can’t even go to work

A woman walks near the area where her home once stood, on Friday. Pic/Aishwarya Deodhar

A month after a fire broke out in Malad's Appa Pada, hundreds of women and children whose homes were destroyed in the blaze were seen sitting in makeshift shelters under the blazing summer sun, awaiting help from the state government. Locals, especially women, have stopped going to work to safeguard their belongings and the pieces of land where their homes once stood. Though Appa Pada residents have been beset by the heat, untimely rainfall makes their life worse.

As per the records, the fire, which started around 4 pm on March 13 on forest land in Anand Nagar, Malad East gutted 1,030 houses. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), NGOs and residents from neighbouring areas came forward to help in the wake of the blaze.

Makeshift shelters that have come up on the site of gutted houses at Appa Pada on Friday

A month later, the authorities seem to have forgotten the incident and NGOs and Good Samaritans have stopped donating items. "We are dealing with the summer heat as well as the rain. There is no roof over our heads and no money to rebuild it. A few people started rebuilding their homes but forest guards come every morning to check whether anyone is constructing pukka houses with brick walls and they demolish such structures," said Rita Yadav, a resident who was sitting on a cement platform where her home once stood. The platform was covered partially by a blue tarpaulin. Rita resides with her husband and son. She used to be engaged in work on a temporary basis but now stays in her ‘home' to keep watch over her belongings.

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She stated, "Many people came forward to help us and hand over goods such as clothes, cooking utensils, groceries and other basic things. We have to protect these items as a few thefts occurred. Besides, if someone comes to survey the area, we have to give our names. We cannot depend on anyone as it is a question of our homes."

Locals in one such home. Pics/Aishwarya Deodhar

Lalitadevi Sharma, who resides nearby, echoed her sentiments. She said, "Earlier, I used to earn Rs 8,000 to 10,000 a month. How can one run the house with only one member's salary? But now at least one person has to stay at home. Many want to return to their native places in the summer but we cannot as we haven't received government aid and the houses are yet to be rebuilt. If they allot us some other place, we can go there but they neither allow us to build pukka houses here nor give any assurance with regard to other places. We don't have money and that's why we are staying here. Where will we go?"

Earlier, the residents would receive electricity from a single meter and pay Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 as per the appliances in their huts. Now there is no power and people are depending on residents of nearby areas to charge their mobile phones. Another local, Madhuri Singh, said, "We have been staying here for 30 years. This is the first time such an intense fire broke out. My daughter-in-law is pregnant and it is very difficult to tolerate the summer swelter without a fan and electricity. But we are managing. Our main concern is the monsoon and we are waiting for the aid of Rs 50,000 declared by the government. A meeting was held on Thursday night with local politicians and they assured us that we would get the money by April 18."

In the fire, 20 to 30 cylinders exploded and agencies did not allowing anyone to take possession of cylinders for the first two weeks after the incident. "They are giving us new cylinders in return for old ones. But we didn't take any and we cook food on chulhas (traditional stoves)," said Laxmi Dhotre, who resides in a hut with her three grandchildren. Their parents are daily-wage earners. "We were told to make walls with cement sheets and tarpaulin. They allowed us to construct a one-and-half-foot brick wall but not more than that. If someone tries to build a pukka wall, forest guards pull it down," said a local.

April 18
Day by when locals hope to get aid