Mumbai: Humanity rises from fire rubble, locals chip in to fund wedding

Local merchants will pool in money for the wedding of Priyanka Pol (24), whose kin were finding it tough to meet the expenses after losing their home, valuables in Kalbadevi building blaze

Having lost her house and all her bridal finery in the Kalbadevi blaze on Saturday, 24-year-old Priyanka Pol had decided to go ahead with her wedding plans for May 30, even if it meant having a simple ceremony.

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Priyanka Pol and Swapnil Surve display their wedding invitation card. Pic/Bipin Kokate

With the family’s finances in dire straits thanks to the fire, in which they lost their house, jewellery and other valuables, meeting the expenses for even a simple wedding was also proving to be an uphill task.

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Now, however, local merchants in Kalbadevi have come forward to ensure not only that Priyanka’s wedding takes place as planned but that she and her husband-to-be, Swapnil Surve, also have the basic household necessities in place.

mid-day’s report on May 10 about the couple deciding to go ahead with their wedding plans

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“Since Priyanka belongs to our area, it is our duty to help her out. Thus, we have decided that each merchant can chip in as much money as he desires and then, collectively, we will give the money to the Pol family before May 30,” said Mahendra Pansare, who is a local merchant as well as the president of the NCP’s Colaba unit.

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All is not lost: Priyanka Pol and Swapnil Surve are slated to tie the knot on May 30. Pic/Bipin Kokate

The merchants have also decided to gift Priyanka some essential household items at the time of her marriage. “Essential items like gas cylinder, vessels, cooker, etc will also be given to her”, said Pansare, adding that the Pol family, who are now living in a transit camp in Prabhadevi, will also be given the basic ration for a month.

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Local residents and merchants in Kalbadevi also organised a memorial event last evening for the two fire officials who lost their lives in the blaze. They managed to raise Rs 2.5 lakh for the firemen’s families during the event itself and plan to collect more over the next eight days. One of the organisers said they hope to reach a figure of Rs 5 lakh so that they can give at least Rs 2.5 lakh each to the two families. Pics/Bipin Kokate

Speaking to mid-day, Priyanka said, “Pansare called me and told me that the merchants are going to collect money for my wedding. He said it will be given to us by May 21. We are grateful for the help.”

Residents hold memorial for firemen who died for them, raise Rs 2.5 lakh for kin

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