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

A month after a fire broke out in Maladrsquos 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 worseAs per the records the fire which started around 4 pm on March 13 on forest land in Anand Nagar Malad East gutted 1030 houses The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC NGOs and residents from neighbouring areas came forward to help in the wake of the blazeMakeshift shelters that have come up on the site of gutted houses at Appa Pada on FridayA month later the authorities seem to have forgotten the incident and NGOs and Good Samaritans have stopped donating items ldquoWe 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 structuresrdquo 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 lsquohomersquo to keep watch over her belongingsAlso read Mumbai Two killed in Ambedkar Jayanti rally pothole blamedShe stated ldquoMany 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 homesrdquoLocals in one such home PicsAishwarya DeodharLalitadevi Sharma who resides nearby echoed her sentiments She said ldquoEarlier I used to earn Rs 8000 to 10000 a month How can one run the house with only one members 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 havenrsquot 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 donrsquot have money and thats why we are staying here Where will we gordquoEarlier the residents would receive electricity from a single meter and pay Rs 1000 to Rs 1500 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 ldquoWe have been staying here for 30 years This is the first time such an intense fire broke out My daughterinlaw 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 50000 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 18rdquoIn 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 ldquoThey are giving us new cylinders in return for old ones But we didnrsquot take any and we cook food on chulhas traditional stovesrdquo said Laxmi Dhotre who resides in a hut with her three grandchildren Their parents are dailywage earners ldquoWe were told to make walls with cement sheets and tarpaulin They allowed us to construct a oneandhalffoot brick wall but not more than that If someone tries to build a pukka wall forest guards pull it downrdquo said a localApril 18Day by when locals hope to get aid