Mumbai Rain: Heavy showers, lack of transport affect students, teachers

The BEST arranged extra bus services from Dadar East for commuters affected by the disruption in Western Railway services due to the bridge collapse in Andheri. Pic/Suresh Karkera

Heavy rain on Tuesday accompanied by the foot-over bridge disaster in Andheri, caused chaos in some city and suburban schools. While there were no clear directions from the government about declaring a holiday, most schools remained open. But some schools cancelled their afternoon sessions after low attendance in the morning.

Staff attendance affected
"There was a lot of waterlogging as well as heavy traffic jams in Irla. So we decided to cancel the afternoon session. While students' attendance was okay, the train incident disrupted staff attendance. The journey which takes only 15 minutes took more than an hour due to the heavy burden on roads," said Girija Mohan, director of Chatrabhuj Narsee Memorial School, Vile Parle.

Uday Nare, a teacher from Hansraj Morarji School in Andheri, said, "The school opened like a regular day of monsoon. But the disastrous incident at Andheri affected teachers' attendance. So though students' attendance was good, hardly any teaching took place. Since there was no direction from the government, schools remained open."

School buses which were running normally in the morning, were affected later after the roads started getting jam-packed with heavy traffic. Many students reached school, but there was no way to send them back immediately.

"We sent those children home whose parents came to pick them up. For others who rely on bus services, the school remained open, and teachers living nearby waited until the buses arrived," added Nare.

Anil Garg, president of the School Bus Owners' Association (SBOA), said, "Only schools in Andheri and especially buses using the Andheri east to west flyover were majorly affected. But parents were informed that school buses were bound to run late considering the heavy traffic. So if a parent wanted to pick up his/her children, he/she could inform the school and bus attendant accordingly."

Official speak
Deputy Director of Education, Mumbai, Rajendra Ahire, said, "There was no official directive regarding a holiday for schools. But schools can take such a decision on their own, based on local conditions."

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