'Books Lost to the Flood, How do we Study?' Ask Displaced Delhi Children

With schools shut in Delhi due to rains, the displaced children near Mayur Vihar have been sitting idle all day.

The children in Yamuna Khadar also attend coaching classes at a make-shift school in east Delhi's Mayur Vihar called Panchsheel Shikshan Sansthan. This school was also severely affected due to the floods.

(Photo: Varsha Sriram)

Days after the Yamuna flooding meant 12-year-old Sonu and his family were displaced from the low lying area that was home, it was time for him to finally resume school. He was restless as he got ready for his first day at school since the Delhi floods.

“Usually, I go to school in the afternoons,  and coaching classes in the morning. But in the last 10 days, I have not been able to go for both,” said Sonu.

He’s been living with his family on the pavement of the DelhI-Meerut highway in a make-shift tent. 

Cramped under a tarpaulin sheet, Sonu's mother, 44-year-old Nathudevi, told The Quint, “Now that flooding is a yearly issue, my husband and I are thinking of shifting somewhere else or maybe even consider going back to our village in Uttar Pradesh. But we know if we do this, Sonu’s studies will get affected.”

Sonu doesn’t want to leave Delhi as he will miss his school and his friends. When asked if he tried studying in the make-shift tent, he said, “How can I? There are so many mosquitoes and there is no light in the evening, and it gets very dark and scary." 

“I like going to school to study and play with my friends...now all I do is sit in this tent all day and I am getting bored...“ said 12-year-old Anand. 

When asked why he wasn't attending school after it resumed on Wednesday, he said, "I lost all my books and uniform to the floods, how can I go without them?"

The children in this area have been going to a Delhi government school in Mayur Vihar Pocket-4, before it was shut due to the rains. 

Since 9 July, the children haven't had much to do apart from helping their parents with day-to-day activities in the tents.

“We have had many issues in the last couple of months. From eviction and demolition drives and now the floods… How can I expect my children to concentrate in school when there are so many difficulties? I am afraid they will forget what they have learnt,” said Rambhir, a daily-wage labourer and father of two.

Meet 17-year-old Rubi, who just passed class 12. Her aspiration to become a doctor was crushed after her father succumbed to cancer in June this year.

“While every family here has been suffering, I think we have had it much worse. First my father died, next we lost all our belongings due to the floods. We are facing a financial situation due to which I, as the elder daughter, had to leave studies and begin to help my mother in her work," she said. 

“We have nothing left here, so we have decided to move somewhere where we can survive. I will make sure I earn and continue the education of my younger sister who is in class 8,” a teary-eyed Rubi said.

“As soon as our house was flooded, the first thing I picked up and saved was my Hindi textbook as I love studying the language. Most of my other books got wet but I have put them out to dry under the sun,” said 12-year-old Vishal.

Vishal’s science textbook was, however, completely ruined. “I am glad because I don’t like science that much” he said jokingly. With an ambition to become an IPS officer, Vishal said, “Kyunki mummy-papa ka naam roshan karna hai (I have to make my parents proud).”

Puran Lal, a floodplain farmer, described the day his family of six, including his wife and four children, had to evacuate their flooded hut near Yamuna Khader in east Delhi's Mayur Vihar.

“When we realised that the water levels were increasing, we took only a few utensils and clothes that we could find and rushed out in a boat. How will we be able to save my children’s school books when we weren’t even able to save our important documents like the Aadhar card?” asked the 40-year-old.

Lal recollected how a similar situation arose last year but they managed to get back to normalcy within three days since the water levels receded quicker. “My children now help me with work even though I don’t want them to…” he said.

Meanwhile, 45-year-old Kamalesh Kumar, Vishal’s father, said, “I will try and buy new books for my older son Pawan (right) because I want both my sons to study well and make a name for themselves…. Hume bahut dhakke khaane pade kyunki hum unpadh hai, woh hum in dono ko nahi hone denge (We had to face a lot of difficulties because we are uneducated but I don’t want that to happen to my sons).”

Apart from going to day school, the children in Yamuna Khadar also attend coaching classes at a make-shift school beneath the under-construction Barapullah phase-3 elevated corridor called Panchsheel Shikshan Sansthan. This school was also severely affected due to the floods.

Satyendra Pal, who is from Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun and resides along the floodplains, began this school in 2015 with an intention to teach children. “Though they go to government schools, sometimes it is difficult for them to pick up what is happening in classes. So we have been coaching them and clearing their doubts especially in subjects such as math and science," he told The Quint.

Stating that this is the third time floods have affected this area in one year, Pal asked, “When your house is completely damaged and you and your family are on the road and that too in such difficulty, how do you expect the children to focus on their studies?”.

Pal said that these reasons led to high drop-out rates from schools. “They lose their motivation when back-to-back things like this happens," he said. 

Pal said that he and his team were unsure whether some students would continue studying. “We are planning to build a temporary tent and begin coaching soon so there is no discontinuity in the children’s studies,” he added.

It’s been a week since Delhi witnessed one of its worst-ever floods in recent times. For several families, who used to reside along the floodplains, now in temporary makeshift tents near Mayur Vihar Phase-I’s metro station, life is in stasis, with a sense of hopelessness heavy in the air. 

They stand in long queues waiting to collect food and essential items.