Madrasa roof came crashing on children
GREATER NOIDA: It was around 7.30pm on Thursday and students of the madrasa in Alivardipur village of Greater Noida were getting restless as their evening class about to end.
Suddenly, they heard a loud rumbling noise, and within moments, the roof of the madrasa was blown by the storm and bricks from the four walls came crashing on their heads even as their teachers and the madrasa head, Mohd Tousif Alam, rushed to shield them.
Five-year-old Sayyed was one of the six children injured, when the roof of a single-storeyed madrasa fell on the 32 children and four teachers who were inside the building. Sayyed sustained head and eye injuries as two bricks fell on him.
“The evening class was supposed to end by 7.45 pm and I was teaching the children Quran. The bricks fell suddenly as the storm hit our locality and many children were trapped despite our best efforts to shield them. We began rescue operation and took shelter in the few houses which luckily survived the storm. Twelve-year-old Mohammad Rashid, 10-year-old Sanowar and 12-year-old Munees also sustained injuries,” said Mohammad Minhaz Alam, a teacher at the madrasa.
The teachers at the madrasa said no help has been provided to them in the last 24 hours, and barring police, no official has reached the spot.
“The police took two hours to reach the spot and no politician or official has met us even after a tragedy of this magnitude. Even after everything was lost, we somehow started rescue operations and took shelter. There is absolutely no arrangement for food, clothing or shelter requirements,” said Qari Aasif Chaudhary (24), another teacher.
The fact that the affected locality is prone to disdain by authorities is evident from the dilapidated t wo kilometre stretch of road, known as Pushta, which connects it to areas of Greater Noida. There is no nearby market, and to reach a hospital, it takes 20 minutes.
“The politicians are not even aware that humans reside in this part of Hindon floodplain but we are actually affected by the disdain shown by administration and police. No help has been given to us for the past 24 hours and we have nowhere to spend the night. We have been working in Greater Noida for generations, doing odd jobs such as labour work, auto rickshaw driving and small businesses but it seems that we are not part of the system,” said Wasim Ahmad, an auto driver, who lost his three room house in the storm.