July 28, 2025 • 25 mins
Firstly, The Indian Express’ Parul Kulshreshtha discuss the collapse of a government school roof in Rajasthan’s Jhalawar district, which killed seven students and injured several others.
Next, we talk to The Indian Express’ Narayanan S about the Kerala’s film industry, where producer Sandra Thomas has filed her nomination for the presidency of the Kerala Film Producers’ Association. (15:13)
And in the end, we discuss Operation Mahadev, a recent counterinsurgency operation on the outskirts of Srinagar in which three militants were killed. (22:19)
Hosted by Ichha Sharma
Produced and written by Shashank Bhargava, Niharika Nanda and Ichha Sharma
Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar
Next, we talk to The Indian Express’ Narayanan S about the Kerala’s film industry, where producer Sandra Thomas has filed her nomination for the presidency of the Kerala Film Producers’ Association. (15:13)
And in the end, we discuss Operation Mahadev, a recent counterinsurgency operation on the outskirts of Srinagar in which three militants were killed. (22:19)
Hosted by Ichha Sharma
Produced and written by Shashank Bhargava, Niharika Nanda and Ichha Sharma
Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
In this episode, we discussed the Malayalam film industry, where
a challenge has been launched against a male dominated leadership.
We also talk about Operation Mahadev, the latest security operation
in Jamu and Kashmir. But we begin today with the
collapse of a primary school roof in Rajasthan that killed
seven students. Hi, I'm Atchasharma and you're listening to three
(00:25):
things the Indian Express New show. On the twenty fifth
of July, tragedies struck a government primary school in Piplodi
village in Rajasthan's Jalawar district. The roof of a classroom collapsed,
killing seven students and critically injuring eight others. Officials said
(00:46):
that thirty five children had to be pulled out from
under the debris. Now, in the hours that followed, disturbing
videos began circulating showing distraught parents grieving their loss. The
incident sparked protests, with locals blocking the Manoharthana road and
demanding one crow rupees for the families of the deceased
and fifty lak for the injured. But in response to
(01:08):
Rajasthan Education Minister Modin de LaVar announced ten lakh rupees
each for the families of the children who died, along
with the government job for one member of each affected family.
Now to learn more about how this happened, the condition
of the survivors and where the investigation now stands. My
colleague Nehara Kananda is joined by the inn expresses Parol Pulshisht,
(01:29):
who has been reporting on the story.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Parol, can you describe to us what exactly happened on
Friday when the roof of the school building collapsed.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
So on Friday at around seven thirty, the upper primary
school from Plus one to eight which is in Challavar
District in a small village named Pippuluti. So in that village,
at around seven seven thirty, the students started arriving for
the school and they were getting ready to for the
school prayer in the morning and the teachers were having
their bricks outside in the courtyard. So the children who
(02:02):
were inside the classroom they started calling the teachers and
they told them that there is debris that is falling
from the roof and a lot of children said that,
you know, we think that the roof may collapse. And
the teachers did not take it seriously and they told
the students that you were just like, you know, giving
excuse not to attend the class, just stay inside, and
the teachers forcefully scolded them and put them inside. The
(02:23):
teacher went out, and at around eight thirty, the wall
collapsed and the roof collapsed of that school, and immediately
there was a big chaos in the village and the
houses that are nearby that school. The school is in
the center of the village. The people immediately ran towards it,
and they told me that the sound was like kind
of a blast that happened in the village and they
(02:44):
immediately ran towards the school and this building absolutely collapsed
on the students.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
And what happened after that? What was the immediate action
that was taken in order to help the children.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
So the first action was taken other villages themselves, because
they were the one nearby. And immediately villages started, you know,
pulling children out who were nearby or who were on
the surface. And there were a lot of students who
were in the courtyard or you know, maybe going to
the washroom, and all they were saved.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
They ran back to their home.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
And they called their patents and everyone that you know,
school building has collapsed. Everyone from the village started, you know,
pulling the children out whoever they can, but a lot
of children were buried deep inside and they immediately called
the police officers and there was a gypsy of police
that was taking a morning gush of that area and
they got a call and they reached over there and
(03:32):
they were able to pull out some children, and then
they called up a GCB that was working in the
nearby village. They called that GCP and through that because
there were a lot of big TMB the big slabs
that are used on the roof. Because of that, a
lot of children were you know, previously injured and many
of them died because of those slabs. And to pull
(03:52):
those slabs they had to call a GCBM. That GCB
worked for an hour or two hours and they were
able to pull out all the children who were there.
And around thirty two children were present in that school
that day, out of which seven died and eleven were
referred to the Charavard Hospital, the district hospital that is
two hours from the village because they were seriously injured
and five of them are still in the ISU, and
(04:14):
eleven children were referred to the Primary Health Center which
is in the Manuatana, which is just ten kilometers from
the village, so they referred them to their but they
were not previously injured. They were saved, so they were
the survivors and parol.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
What action has been taken by the authorities so far
and how has the state government reacted to this?
Speaker 3 (04:33):
So the news just broke on the social media and
everywhere and modern de Lawa, who is the education minister.
Immediately on that same day he went to the village
and you know, met the survivors and who were in
the Jalavard district. The state government, first of coas suspended
the five teachers who were that day working in the
school because they said that it was lack of negligence
on their part. Then a five member committee under the
(04:53):
district chief Officer of the Dalavard District have been set
up to investigate how this building that has collapsed. When
I asked the collector that was this building under their
surveillance or maybe they have received any complaint regarding this
building that it is in a diliberated condition. So the
character said that they had no information regarding this building
and they are still investigating and this committee will actually find.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
Out what are the causes of this accident and who
are responsible?
Speaker 3 (05:19):
And why wasn't this building was you know, under the
scanner of the government.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
So the government has did these kinds of steps. And
also the.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Fire has been rearrested against the teachers who were present
in the school. So that is like till now what
the government has done right?
Speaker 2 (05:32):
And could you talk a bit about the seven children
who passed away, and since you also spoke to their parents,
how have they been coping at this time?
Speaker 3 (05:40):
So I went to the village yesterday. There was like
a very sad, you know wave in the entire village.
People were mourning and you can hear the cries of
ladies from like on the road side as well, because
they were like every house of the victim was like
you know, filled with a lot of people, and their
mothers were crying a lot. The worst thing was about
a couple who lost their only two children, Nina and Kana.
(06:02):
One was eight years old the daughter, and Kana was
six years old. So they lost both their children. And
the thing is mother has done the operation that through
which she cannot have more children. So now she was
also worried about that she cannot have kids, and she
has already lost two of her children, so her entire
life was like, you know, just taken away from her,
and every house was like, you know, grieving in its
(06:24):
own manner. Harrish one of the students who died. He
used to live just adjacent to the school and his
grandmother collapsed. But his brother was also injured in the incident.
There was one girl, Pile, She died in the school
collapse building, and the sad thing was like, you know,
I was talking to her family and the family told
me that they have three sisters. She was a middle
one and her youngest sister, Andrada, is still lebitted to
(06:47):
the ic ward in Chialava district.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
She's also not well.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
So the mother told me that Pyle wanted to study
further and she wanted to get admission in her private school.
So she was telling her parents that, you know, I
want to study further and I want to go or
become a government servant to at least send me to
a different or a better school. So her parents were like,
you know, very distressed that maybe we should have listened
to her, we should have sent her to a better school.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
And all.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
There was another girl, frie Inca who was one of
the seven sisters of her parents and she was living
with her aunt in the Piplroi village, and her aunt
used to tell me that she wanted to get out
of the village. She used to go every day to school.
The aunt told me that even if we used to
tell her that there, you know, there is a lot
of rain that is happening, it's too cold or too hot.
You know, it's not possible for you to go to school.
(07:32):
But she would always go to school every day and
she would always feel it finish her homework. The aunt
told me that she wanted to become a teacher, and
she wanted to get out of the village. She had
the dream to become something different than the women of
a family. So, you know, a lot of kids had
their own aspirations and now it was all gone away
because of this incident. And the parents are still not
able to, you know, accept the fact that this happened
to them.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
And we understand that the road outside the SRG hospital
where the critical cases are being treated, it actually had
to be repaired. So could you tell us a little
bit about that.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
So I went to the SRG hospital day before yesterday
and there I talked to the staff members and everyone,
but I reached in the evening.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
By evening they were a lot of videos of SRG.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Hospital just you know calling up the road ruler and
they repaired the entire road within the hospital premises. The
hospital staff told me that when this incident happened, and
you know, they caught a call from officials that children
are being transported to Jalava District Hospital.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
They knew that the case is very big, so they
called up.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
Every hospital staff, every hospital member, you know, doctors, nurses,
cleaning staff, security guards. Everyone was called up, like you know,
you have to be in the hospital. Twenty for seven.
The entire hospital was cleaned, the chairs were cleaned, the
fans were cleaned, the furniture was cleaned, you know, toilets
and everything was repaired, and the staff was told to
be on alert.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
And because the VVIP were.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
Coming, former minister and current MP of Jalava, Dushan Singh
Mazandela or the Education minister and a lot of you
know dignitary and like all those VVIP members are coming.
So to prevent any form of you know, scolding from them,
to avoid that, they just immediately just watched off everything
and just repaired the entire road of the hospital and
everything they wanted to be able to present.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
A good face to them. So that was there that happened.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
It was very unfortunate, to be honest, because they waited
for this long to do this. And Manuhatanac the primary
health Center, the doctors over there told me that parents
started coming and just you know, they had their children
in their arms.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
They were coming from bike and.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Whatever vehicles they were able to get and was available
that time to them, and they were crying a.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
Lot, and all the doctors just like you know.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Sprang into action. But six children were brought dead. Seventh
died in the Jalava District hospital. The doctors just explained
to me that when those children were brought to me
and I just told the parients that they passed away
and we cannot do anything.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
The parents were not able to, like, you know, accept the.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Fact that this happened, because you know, it takes a
lot of time to digest that your child is not
there anymore. And n Rock Meana to use the PDIAT
friction over there, and he told me that it was
such a chaof that time, we were not able to
handle anything and we immediately referred the previously enjoyed patients
to the Chalava District Hospital where they were better facilities
and parol.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
What about the children who are under critical care right now?
What do we know about their condition?
Speaker 3 (10:17):
So five to seven patients I met their family members
at the Jalava District Hospital who was still under intense care,
and there were a lot of parents who were crying.
They said that, you know, they were not able to
know anything. One or two children who are in the hospital,
they are so traumatized.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
Chunky.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
There's this girl twelve years of age. Her father badrid Al.
He told me that he doesn't want to take his
daughter back to the village. He wants to stay at
the sc for at least three or four days so
that the environment of the village is cooled down, because
he said that his daughter is so traumatized that she's
literally still hearing the voices of those people who were
crying that time, even though she was like, you know,
(10:54):
saved and she had just few scratches, but she's still
like you know, Papa as like say, she's like that.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
So he was like, you know, I cannot take her
back to that village anymore. At least for some time.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
And you earlier mentioned that the five teachers who were
in the school that day were suspended. But we understand
that the teachers' union is against this action.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
So the teacher's union told me that even the villagers
told me that they had already written to the surpunch
and informs over the years that their school building is
not good. And the villagers claimed that three four years back,
there was a tender that was passed and around tu
lap was sanctioned for the school repair. But the building
was so bad that they had to like, you know,
put a plastic sheet on the roof because it was
(11:36):
leaking in monsoon season. So that was the teacher that
said that it is not a teacher's responsibility to repair
the school. It is actually there are engineers of the
government Education department who surveyed the school, who always make
a list of school that needs urgent care and urgent repair.
Why aren't they responsible and why is a teacher made
a scapegoat in all this because he is there to
(11:56):
just teach and even if the building is bad, and
they can, you know, call these students and teach them
under a tree or in the courtyard. It is not
possible if it is raining very bad or you know,
this is a very high temperature, especially largest sun.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
So it is not the teacher who is responsible.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
It is the authorities to survey the school and the
engineers who are under whom the school comes.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
They are responsible.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Why didn't they inform the administration about the repair that
the school needed, So that was their point of view,
and they objected to the suspension of the teachers.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Yeah, and what stands out is that according to the collector,
he had no information about the school building being damaged,
despite the school teachers claiming that they had informed the
serpunch about it.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
Yeah, a collector claims that they have a list of
buildings that need urgent care and repair in the district,
but he said that the school's name was not there.
He told me that they are trying to get told
off through investigative committee. They want to get to know
about what happened and how the school was not part
of that list, and they're investigating as what they claim
that they're investigating, and some action will be taken soon.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
And we will talk about the concerns the series is
because this, after all, is a government school.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Parents all over the state have now, like you know,
come forward. A lot of photographs are going viral on
social media, and a lot of people told me in
the surrounding villages that even the schools in their village
is also not in a good condition. So they are
actually very scared that this kind of incident can be
repeated another school. Another thing that after this has happened,
the villages and the students who are studying in the
(13:28):
school have become very traumatized and scared. So government has
announced that they will repair the school and rebuild the
school again. But the parents were telling me, the students
were telling me that they cannot go back to the
same building or on the same land because they said that,
you know, we saw a lot of death on that land,
so we cannot go back to that school again. They
have to make up or build a different school at
(13:48):
a different place because this area is they say, if
the source of the children who died are still in
that area, so they said that we cannot live in
that or go to that school again. So that's the
post traumatic depression, you can say, it is still there
in the children and other people who have heard the
news all over the state are now concerned about the
safety of their own kids to send them to a
(14:09):
government school because a lot of them are thousands of
them are in a very bad condition and parol.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
How do we see this case moving forward?
Speaker 4 (14:16):
Now?
Speaker 2 (14:17):
What are the steps that the government is planning to take.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
See, there are a lot of investigative agencies and investigati
committees that are set up by the government and everyone,
But I don't know what will be the result of it.
The initial investigation done by the chief district Education officer,
he said that because of the rain, the school building
was not able to sustain it and it started leaking
and because of the heavy rain, this incident had happened initially.
But I'm hopeful that they will find out some solution
(14:42):
to this whatever happened, and the guilty people will be charged.
But I think this case has drawn attention from the
government to the urgent repair of school buildings. State government
has announced that every year, by June fifteenth, every building
that will be listed in the entire state, whether it's
a hospital or a school or any government departments that
needs urgent repair or in a very bad condition that
(15:04):
it is not sustainable for human living. So those buildings
will be listed and every year before June fifteen, they
will be repaired.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
And now we move to Kerala's film industry. Earlier this month,
one of the few prominent women producers in Kerala, Sandra Thomas,
walked into the office of the Kerala Film Producers Association
or KFPA, clad in a black burda. With that act,
she filed her nomination to contest the upcoming election for
the president's post in the association, scheduled for fourteenth of August.
(15:40):
Now this is not just a routine development in a
trade body election. It is the latest in a series
of confrontations between her and the current KFPA leadership, a
leadership she says, has long been controlled by a coterie
of ten to fifteen men, who, in her words, offer
no space or voice to women. But this friction is
not new. Thomas and of the KFPA escalated in late
(16:02):
twenty twenty four after she questioned the silence of the
office bearers over the Hama Committee Report, a report that
investigated the working conditions and discrimination faced by women in
the Malayalam film industry. In response, she received a show
cause notice and the KFPA deemed her explanation to it
unsatisfactory and expelled her from the body in November twenty
(16:24):
twenty four. To understand the charges against the KFPA leadership
and where the case stands legally, we are joined by
the Indie expresses Narayan and s who reported on the story.
Narina begin by telling us a little bit about the
Kerala Film Producers Association and how significant is it within
the Malayalam film industry.
Speaker 5 (16:44):
So, this Kerala Film Producers Association is a group of
like producers who have been working with the Kerala film industry.
I mean it's like any other trade union within the
Malayalam film industry, like the Film Employees Federation of Kerala,
like the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists. So there are
so many trade unions or like association of people working
(17:07):
within the industry. So this produces bodies also just another
group like that.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Right, And we understand that Santa Thomas has filed her
nomination for the president's post of this association. But can
I talk a little bit about her.
Speaker 5 (17:22):
Yeah, So she is part of a production group with
one another person called Vija Babu. Like they were together
for a long time producing several films in the period
between twenty twelve seventeen, if I'm right, So they produced
so many films and then they split due to some
disagreements between the two. And after that she launched her
(17:46):
own production company called Sandra Thomas Productions. But it hasn't
produced so many films after that, after twenty seventeen, it
hasn't produced so many films, like maybe two or three
films it has come up with. And she has already
appeared in some films also, like Amen in twenty thirteen
(18:07):
and then Suck Careered Apneur that's another film that came
out in twenty thirteen, So she's acted in a few
movies also, and their production company was a very successful one,
Like I mean, they made a few decent films that
did really well in the box office in the early
two and ten periods.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
And Naran and we know that the tensions are not new.
So what does she allege about the way KFPA has
been functioning.
Speaker 5 (18:33):
So her main allegation is that like it has become
a monopoly or like quartrey of ten or fifteen people
like who are controlling everything within the group. So that's
her main allegation. She also says that like it is
very much male dominated. There is a very little female
(18:54):
representation within the association. The all the major office bearers
are so women producers don't have much voice within the industry,
is her main allegation. So her intention to contest the
election is that like, if she manages to win the election,
she would come in and then she would rectify the issues.
(19:15):
She would address the issues of the woman producers. And
also like there is an institutional decay that has happened
within the producers body. Asked for her allegation, so she
wants to correct that and help more producers and bring
in some new projects to help people who are not
that well off within the producers group.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
So like I mean to help such people.
Speaker 5 (19:39):
She plans to have several initiatives, but she hasn't spoken
about explicitly what she plans to do. I mean by
contesting the election, she wants to address these.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Issues, right, and we know that she has also filed
a police complaint against a few office bearers of the association,
including President Onto Joseph, Secretary b Kish, and even executive
committee members. So can you talk about the events that
you know led up to this case and where do
things stand.
Speaker 5 (20:08):
Legally Okay, So what she at least to us that
there is some derogatory comments made about her by a
few office bearers of this producer's body. So she went
ahead and filed a police complaint, and the police filed
a case and filed an affair against these people. And
(20:29):
charge sheet has already been filed in this case, I think,
if I'm right, it was filed in April this year.
So the trial in this case, Simcochi, is yet to
be in. So her main contention is that when such
people who are accused in a criminal case are contesting
for an election to a body such as this, I mean,
(20:53):
even if it's technically fine, it's not fair from a
moral point of you to contest an election when you
are being charged in a criminal case such as this.
So I mean, the trial hasn't started yet, So that's
where the case stands now.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
And so how has the current CAFP leadership responded to
these allegations.
Speaker 5 (21:14):
Yeah, so the people who have been named in the
allegation haven't responded after she filed the nomination for her candidates,
so they haven't come on record and said anything. But Sumar,
one of the office bearers of this film producers associations.
So he has come on record and he has said
(21:34):
that these are all like publicity stunned by Sandra Thomas
saying that like these allegations are fabricated. And he is
saying that his fellow office bearers of this producer's body,
they can easily contest the election. There is nothing that
prevents them from.
Speaker 4 (21:51):
Contesting the election.
Speaker 5 (21:52):
Because in India, he says that, like even politicians have
several criminal cases against them and they still go and
if I denomination for an election to become a public representative.
So his argument is that like there is nothing that
prevents his fellow of his barriers to contest election for
a post of the film producers.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
So all these things should.
Speaker 5 (22:14):
Be considered while making allegations against a body that has,
as per his virtue, like has no corruption allegation of
the single rupee against it.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
And in the end, we look at a recent encounter
on the outskirts of Srinagar. Yesterday, three militants were killed
in an encounter with security forces in the Dachigam forest
area on the outskirts of Srinagar, as reported by the
Indian Expresses Navi the Kabal the operation codenamed Operation Mahadev,
was launched in the upper reaches of Harran following a
(22:50):
technical alert indicating militant presence. According to the Indian Army,
contact with the militants was established early during the search operation,
resulting in an intent firefight. While three bodies were recovered
from the site, the identities of the deceased have not
yet been officially confirmed. Preliminary inputs shared with news agency
PTI indicate that one of the militants killed maybe Jibran,
(23:13):
who was allegedly involved in the October twenty twenty four
attack on the Sonmar tunnel project at Gagangir. That attack
resulted in the deaths of seven people, including a doctor.
Authorities are also investigating whether one of the three individuals
killed in the current encounter is linked to the Pehelgam
terror attack. Igbal notes that the encounter follows a recent
(23:34):
pattern of targeted operations in the region. Earlier this year,
in May, similar operations were conducted in the Sapient and
Avantipura areas of South Kashmir, where three militants were killed
in each location. Security forces recovered one M four carbine rifle,
two AK series rifles and other ammunition from the site.
Inspector General of Pilis Kashmir Zone VK. Birdi confirmed that
(23:57):
the operation was still ongoing and that it would be
pre mature to release full details before its conclusion. According
to PTI, the army launched the Harran operation based on
signals resembling the type of device used in the twenty
second of April Pehelgam attack. That incident is under investigation
by the National Investigation Agency, which concluded that all three
(24:17):
attackers were Pakistani nationals. This finding revised earlier local police
inputs that had identified ban Kashmiri and two Pakistani suspects.
Igbalfurther reported that the NIA previously identified Suleman Shah alias
Mussa as a key figure in both the Pehelgam and
son Mark tunnel attacks. These overlapping investigations are informing the
(24:39):
probe into the identities of those killed in the current operation.
You were listening to Three Things by the Indian Express.
Today's show was edited and mixed by Sish Pawar and
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(25:01):
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or write to us at podcast at Indian Express dot
com
In this episode, we discussed the Malayalam film industry, where
a challenge has been launched against a male dominated leadership.
We also talk about Operation Mahadev, the latest security operation
in Jamu and Kashmir. But we begin today with the
collapse of a primary school roof in Rajasthan that killed
seven students. Hi, I'm Atchasharma and you're listening to three
(00:25):
things the Indian Express New show. On the twenty fifth
of July, tragedies struck a government primary school in Piplodi
village in Rajasthan's Jalawar district. The roof of a classroom collapsed,
killing seven students and critically injuring eight others. Officials said
(00:46):
that thirty five children had to be pulled out from
under the debris. Now, in the hours that followed, disturbing
videos began circulating showing distraught parents grieving their loss. The
incident sparked protests, with locals blocking the Manoharthana road and
demanding one crow rupees for the families of the deceased
and fifty lak for the injured. But in response to
(01:08):
Rajasthan Education Minister Modin de LaVar announced ten lakh rupees
each for the families of the children who died, along
with the government job for one member of each affected family.
Now to learn more about how this happened, the condition
of the survivors and where the investigation now stands. My
colleague Nehara Kananda is joined by the inn expresses Parol Pulshisht,
(01:29):
who has been reporting on the story.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Parol, can you describe to us what exactly happened on
Friday when the roof of the school building collapsed.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
So on Friday at around seven thirty, the upper primary
school from Plus one to eight which is in Challavar
District in a small village named Pippuluti. So in that village,
at around seven seven thirty, the students started arriving for
the school and they were getting ready to for the
school prayer in the morning and the teachers were having
their bricks outside in the courtyard. So the children who
(02:02):
were inside the classroom they started calling the teachers and
they told them that there is debris that is falling
from the roof and a lot of children said that,
you know, we think that the roof may collapse. And
the teachers did not take it seriously and they told
the students that you were just like, you know, giving
excuse not to attend the class, just stay inside, and
the teachers forcefully scolded them and put them inside. The
(02:23):
teacher went out, and at around eight thirty, the wall
collapsed and the roof collapsed of that school, and immediately
there was a big chaos in the village and the
houses that are nearby that school. The school is in
the center of the village. The people immediately ran towards it,
and they told me that the sound was like kind
of a blast that happened in the village and they
(02:44):
immediately ran towards the school and this building absolutely collapsed
on the students.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
And what happened after that? What was the immediate action
that was taken in order to help the children.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
So the first action was taken other villages themselves, because
they were the one nearby. And immediately villages started, you know,
pulling children out who were nearby or who were on
the surface. And there were a lot of students who
were in the courtyard or you know, maybe going to
the washroom, and all they were saved.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
They ran back to their home.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
And they called their patents and everyone that you know,
school building has collapsed. Everyone from the village started, you know,
pulling the children out whoever they can, but a lot
of children were buried deep inside and they immediately called
the police officers and there was a gypsy of police
that was taking a morning gush of that area and
they got a call and they reached over there and
(03:32):
they were able to pull out some children, and then
they called up a GCB that was working in the
nearby village. They called that GCP and through that because
there were a lot of big TMB the big slabs
that are used on the roof. Because of that, a
lot of children were you know, previously injured and many
of them died because of those slabs. And to pull
(03:52):
those slabs they had to call a GCBM. That GCB
worked for an hour or two hours and they were
able to pull out all the children who were there.
And around thirty two children were present in that school
that day, out of which seven died and eleven were
referred to the Charavard Hospital, the district hospital that is
two hours from the village because they were seriously injured
and five of them are still in the ISU, and
(04:14):
eleven children were referred to the Primary Health Center which
is in the Manuatana, which is just ten kilometers from
the village, so they referred them to their but they
were not previously injured. They were saved, so they were
the survivors and parol.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
What action has been taken by the authorities so far
and how has the state government reacted to this?
Speaker 3 (04:33):
So the news just broke on the social media and
everywhere and modern de Lawa, who is the education minister.
Immediately on that same day he went to the village
and you know, met the survivors and who were in
the Jalavard district. The state government, first of coas suspended
the five teachers who were that day working in the
school because they said that it was lack of negligence
on their part. Then a five member committee under the
(04:53):
district chief Officer of the Dalavard District have been set
up to investigate how this building that has collapsed. When
I asked the collector that was this building under their
surveillance or maybe they have received any complaint regarding this
building that it is in a diliberated condition. So the
character said that they had no information regarding this building
and they are still investigating and this committee will actually find.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
Out what are the causes of this accident and who
are responsible?
Speaker 3 (05:19):
And why wasn't this building was you know, under the
scanner of the government.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
So the government has did these kinds of steps. And
also the.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Fire has been rearrested against the teachers who were present
in the school. So that is like till now what
the government has done right?
Speaker 2 (05:32):
And could you talk a bit about the seven children
who passed away, and since you also spoke to their parents,
how have they been coping at this time?
Speaker 3 (05:40):
So I went to the village yesterday. There was like
a very sad, you know wave in the entire village.
People were mourning and you can hear the cries of
ladies from like on the road side as well, because
they were like every house of the victim was like
you know, filled with a lot of people, and their
mothers were crying a lot. The worst thing was about
a couple who lost their only two children, Nina and Kana.
(06:02):
One was eight years old the daughter, and Kana was
six years old. So they lost both their children. And
the thing is mother has done the operation that through
which she cannot have more children. So now she was
also worried about that she cannot have kids, and she
has already lost two of her children, so her entire
life was like, you know, just taken away from her,
and every house was like, you know, grieving in its
(06:24):
own manner. Harrish one of the students who died. He
used to live just adjacent to the school and his
grandmother collapsed. But his brother was also injured in the incident.
There was one girl, Pile, She died in the school
collapse building, and the sad thing was like, you know,
I was talking to her family and the family told
me that they have three sisters. She was a middle
one and her youngest sister, Andrada, is still lebitted to
(06:47):
the ic ward in Chialava district.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
She's also not well.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
So the mother told me that Pyle wanted to study
further and she wanted to get admission in her private school.
So she was telling her parents that, you know, I
want to study further and I want to go or
become a government servant to at least send me to
a different or a better school. So her parents were like,
you know, very distressed that maybe we should have listened
to her, we should have sent her to a better school.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
And all.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
There was another girl, frie Inca who was one of
the seven sisters of her parents and she was living
with her aunt in the Piplroi village, and her aunt
used to tell me that she wanted to get out
of the village. She used to go every day to school.
The aunt told me that even if we used to
tell her that there, you know, there is a lot
of rain that is happening, it's too cold or too hot.
You know, it's not possible for you to go to school.
(07:32):
But she would always go to school every day and
she would always feel it finish her homework. The aunt
told me that she wanted to become a teacher, and
she wanted to get out of the village. She had
the dream to become something different than the women of
a family. So, you know, a lot of kids had
their own aspirations and now it was all gone away
because of this incident. And the parents are still not
able to, you know, accept the fact that this happened
to them.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
And we understand that the road outside the SRG hospital
where the critical cases are being treated, it actually had
to be repaired. So could you tell us a little
bit about that.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
So I went to the SRG hospital day before yesterday
and there I talked to the staff members and everyone,
but I reached in the evening.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
By evening they were a lot of videos of SRG.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Hospital just you know calling up the road ruler and
they repaired the entire road within the hospital premises. The
hospital staff told me that when this incident happened, and
you know, they caught a call from officials that children
are being transported to Jalava District Hospital.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
They knew that the case is very big, so they
called up.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
Every hospital staff, every hospital member, you know, doctors, nurses,
cleaning staff, security guards. Everyone was called up, like you know,
you have to be in the hospital. Twenty for seven.
The entire hospital was cleaned, the chairs were cleaned, the
fans were cleaned, the furniture was cleaned, you know, toilets
and everything was repaired, and the staff was told to
be on alert.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
And because the VVIP were.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
Coming, former minister and current MP of Jalava, Dushan Singh
Mazandela or the Education minister and a lot of you
know dignitary and like all those VVIP members are coming.
So to prevent any form of you know, scolding from them,
to avoid that, they just immediately just watched off everything
and just repaired the entire road of the hospital and
everything they wanted to be able to present.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
A good face to them. So that was there that happened.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
It was very unfortunate, to be honest, because they waited
for this long to do this. And Manuhatanac the primary
health Center, the doctors over there told me that parents
started coming and just you know, they had their children
in their arms.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
They were coming from bike and.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Whatever vehicles they were able to get and was available
that time to them, and they were crying a.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
Lot, and all the doctors just like you know.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Sprang into action. But six children were brought dead. Seventh
died in the Jalava District hospital. The doctors just explained
to me that when those children were brought to me
and I just told the parients that they passed away
and we cannot do anything.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
The parents were not able to, like, you know, accept the.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Fact that this happened, because you know, it takes a
lot of time to digest that your child is not
there anymore. And n Rock Meana to use the PDIAT
friction over there, and he told me that it was
such a chaof that time, we were not able to
handle anything and we immediately referred the previously enjoyed patients
to the Chalava District Hospital where they were better facilities
and parol.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
What about the children who are under critical care right now?
What do we know about their condition?
Speaker 3 (10:17):
So five to seven patients I met their family members
at the Jalava District Hospital who was still under intense care,
and there were a lot of parents who were crying.
They said that, you know, they were not able to
know anything. One or two children who are in the hospital,
they are so traumatized.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
Chunky.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
There's this girl twelve years of age. Her father badrid Al.
He told me that he doesn't want to take his
daughter back to the village. He wants to stay at
the sc for at least three or four days so
that the environment of the village is cooled down, because
he said that his daughter is so traumatized that she's
literally still hearing the voices of those people who were
crying that time, even though she was like, you know,
(10:54):
saved and she had just few scratches, but she's still
like you know, Papa as like say, she's like that.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
So he was like, you know, I cannot take her
back to that village anymore. At least for some time.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
And you earlier mentioned that the five teachers who were
in the school that day were suspended. But we understand
that the teachers' union is against this action.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
So the teacher's union told me that even the villagers
told me that they had already written to the surpunch
and informs over the years that their school building is
not good. And the villagers claimed that three four years back,
there was a tender that was passed and around tu
lap was sanctioned for the school repair. But the building
was so bad that they had to like, you know,
put a plastic sheet on the roof because it was
(11:36):
leaking in monsoon season. So that was the teacher that
said that it is not a teacher's responsibility to repair
the school. It is actually there are engineers of the
government Education department who surveyed the school, who always make
a list of school that needs urgent care and urgent repair.
Why aren't they responsible and why is a teacher made
a scapegoat in all this because he is there to
(11:56):
just teach and even if the building is bad, and
they can, you know, call these students and teach them
under a tree or in the courtyard. It is not
possible if it is raining very bad or you know,
this is a very high temperature, especially largest sun.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
So it is not the teacher who is responsible.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
It is the authorities to survey the school and the
engineers who are under whom the school comes.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
They are responsible.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Why didn't they inform the administration about the repair that
the school needed, So that was their point of view,
and they objected to the suspension of the teachers.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Yeah, and what stands out is that according to the collector,
he had no information about the school building being damaged,
despite the school teachers claiming that they had informed the
serpunch about it.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
Yeah, a collector claims that they have a list of
buildings that need urgent care and repair in the district,
but he said that the school's name was not there.
He told me that they are trying to get told
off through investigative committee. They want to get to know
about what happened and how the school was not part
of that list, and they're investigating as what they claim
that they're investigating, and some action will be taken soon.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
And we will talk about the concerns the series is
because this, after all, is a government school.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Parents all over the state have now, like you know,
come forward. A lot of photographs are going viral on
social media, and a lot of people told me in
the surrounding villages that even the schools in their village
is also not in a good condition. So they are
actually very scared that this kind of incident can be
repeated another school. Another thing that after this has happened,
the villages and the students who are studying in the
(13:28):
school have become very traumatized and scared. So government has
announced that they will repair the school and rebuild the
school again. But the parents were telling me, the students
were telling me that they cannot go back to the
same building or on the same land because they said that,
you know, we saw a lot of death on that land,
so we cannot go back to that school again. They
have to make up or build a different school at
(13:48):
a different place because this area is they say, if
the source of the children who died are still in
that area, so they said that we cannot live in
that or go to that school again. So that's the
post traumatic depression, you can say, it is still there
in the children and other people who have heard the
news all over the state are now concerned about the
safety of their own kids to send them to a
(14:09):
government school because a lot of them are thousands of
them are in a very bad condition and parol.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
How do we see this case moving forward?
Speaker 4 (14:16):
Now?
Speaker 2 (14:17):
What are the steps that the government is planning to take.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
See, there are a lot of investigative agencies and investigati
committees that are set up by the government and everyone,
But I don't know what will be the result of it.
The initial investigation done by the chief district Education officer,
he said that because of the rain, the school building
was not able to sustain it and it started leaking
and because of the heavy rain, this incident had happened initially.
But I'm hopeful that they will find out some solution
(14:42):
to this whatever happened, and the guilty people will be charged.
But I think this case has drawn attention from the
government to the urgent repair of school buildings. State government
has announced that every year, by June fifteenth, every building
that will be listed in the entire state, whether it's
a hospital or a school or any government departments that
needs urgent repair or in a very bad condition that
(15:04):
it is not sustainable for human living. So those buildings
will be listed and every year before June fifteen, they
will be repaired.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
And now we move to Kerala's film industry. Earlier this month,
one of the few prominent women producers in Kerala, Sandra Thomas,
walked into the office of the Kerala Film Producers Association
or KFPA, clad in a black burda. With that act,
she filed her nomination to contest the upcoming election for
the president's post in the association, scheduled for fourteenth of August.
(15:40):
Now this is not just a routine development in a
trade body election. It is the latest in a series
of confrontations between her and the current KFPA leadership, a
leadership she says, has long been controlled by a coterie
of ten to fifteen men, who, in her words, offer
no space or voice to women. But this friction is
not new. Thomas and of the KFPA escalated in late
(16:02):
twenty twenty four after she questioned the silence of the
office bearers over the Hama Committee Report, a report that
investigated the working conditions and discrimination faced by women in
the Malayalam film industry. In response, she received a show
cause notice and the KFPA deemed her explanation to it
unsatisfactory and expelled her from the body in November twenty
(16:24):
twenty four. To understand the charges against the KFPA leadership
and where the case stands legally, we are joined by
the Indie expresses Narayan and s who reported on the story.
Narina begin by telling us a little bit about the
Kerala Film Producers Association and how significant is it within
the Malayalam film industry.
Speaker 5 (16:44):
So, this Kerala Film Producers Association is a group of
like producers who have been working with the Kerala film industry.
I mean it's like any other trade union within the
Malayalam film industry, like the Film Employees Federation of Kerala,
like the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists. So there are
so many trade unions or like association of people working
(17:07):
within the industry. So this produces bodies also just another
group like that.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Right, And we understand that Santa Thomas has filed her
nomination for the president's post of this association. But can
I talk a little bit about her.
Speaker 5 (17:22):
Yeah, So she is part of a production group with
one another person called Vija Babu. Like they were together
for a long time producing several films in the period
between twenty twelve seventeen, if I'm right, So they produced
so many films and then they split due to some
disagreements between the two. And after that she launched her
(17:46):
own production company called Sandra Thomas Productions. But it hasn't
produced so many films after that, after twenty seventeen, it
hasn't produced so many films, like maybe two or three
films it has come up with. And she has already
appeared in some films also, like Amen in twenty thirteen
(18:07):
and then Suck Careered Apneur that's another film that came
out in twenty thirteen, So she's acted in a few
movies also, and their production company was a very successful one,
Like I mean, they made a few decent films that
did really well in the box office in the early
two and ten periods.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
And Naran and we know that the tensions are not new.
So what does she allege about the way KFPA has
been functioning.
Speaker 5 (18:33):
So her main allegation is that like it has become
a monopoly or like quartrey of ten or fifteen people
like who are controlling everything within the group. So that's
her main allegation. She also says that like it is
very much male dominated. There is a very little female
(18:54):
representation within the association. The all the major office bearers
are so women producers don't have much voice within the industry,
is her main allegation. So her intention to contest the
election is that like, if she manages to win the election,
she would come in and then she would rectify the issues.
(19:15):
She would address the issues of the woman producers. And
also like there is an institutional decay that has happened
within the producers body. Asked for her allegation, so she
wants to correct that and help more producers and bring
in some new projects to help people who are not
that well off within the producers group.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
So like I mean to help such people.
Speaker 5 (19:39):
She plans to have several initiatives, but she hasn't spoken
about explicitly what she plans to do. I mean by
contesting the election, she wants to address these.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Issues, right, and we know that she has also filed
a police complaint against a few office bearers of the association,
including President Onto Joseph, Secretary b Kish, and even executive
committee members. So can you talk about the events that
you know led up to this case and where do
things stand.
Speaker 5 (20:08):
Legally Okay, So what she at least to us that
there is some derogatory comments made about her by a
few office bearers of this producer's body. So she went
ahead and filed a police complaint, and the police filed
a case and filed an affair against these people. And
(20:29):
charge sheet has already been filed in this case, I think,
if I'm right, it was filed in April this year.
So the trial in this case, Simcochi, is yet to
be in. So her main contention is that when such
people who are accused in a criminal case are contesting
for an election to a body such as this, I mean,
(20:53):
even if it's technically fine, it's not fair from a
moral point of you to contest an election when you
are being charged in a criminal case such as this.
So I mean, the trial hasn't started yet, So that's
where the case stands now.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
And so how has the current CAFP leadership responded to
these allegations.
Speaker 5 (21:14):
Yeah, so the people who have been named in the
allegation haven't responded after she filed the nomination for her candidates,
so they haven't come on record and said anything. But Sumar,
one of the office bearers of this film producers associations.
So he has come on record and he has said
(21:34):
that these are all like publicity stunned by Sandra Thomas
saying that like these allegations are fabricated. And he is
saying that his fellow office bearers of this producer's body,
they can easily contest the election. There is nothing that
prevents them from.
Speaker 4 (21:51):
Contesting the election.
Speaker 5 (21:52):
Because in India, he says that, like even politicians have
several criminal cases against them and they still go and
if I denomination for an election to become a public representative.
So his argument is that like there is nothing that
prevents his fellow of his barriers to contest election for
a post of the film producers.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
So all these things should.
Speaker 5 (22:14):
Be considered while making allegations against a body that has,
as per his virtue, like has no corruption allegation of
the single rupee against it.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
And in the end, we look at a recent encounter
on the outskirts of Srinagar. Yesterday, three militants were killed
in an encounter with security forces in the Dachigam forest
area on the outskirts of Srinagar, as reported by the
Indian Expresses Navi the Kabal the operation codenamed Operation Mahadev,
was launched in the upper reaches of Harran following a
(22:50):
technical alert indicating militant presence. According to the Indian Army,
contact with the militants was established early during the search operation,
resulting in an intent firefight. While three bodies were recovered
from the site, the identities of the deceased have not
yet been officially confirmed. Preliminary inputs shared with news agency
PTI indicate that one of the militants killed maybe Jibran,
(23:13):
who was allegedly involved in the October twenty twenty four
attack on the Sonmar tunnel project at Gagangir. That attack
resulted in the deaths of seven people, including a doctor.
Authorities are also investigating whether one of the three individuals
killed in the current encounter is linked to the Pehelgam
terror attack. Igbal notes that the encounter follows a recent
(23:34):
pattern of targeted operations in the region. Earlier this year,
in May, similar operations were conducted in the Sapient and
Avantipura areas of South Kashmir, where three militants were killed
in each location. Security forces recovered one M four carbine rifle,
two AK series rifles and other ammunition from the site.
Inspector General of Pilis Kashmir Zone VK. Birdi confirmed that
(23:57):
the operation was still ongoing and that it would be
pre mature to release full details before its conclusion. According
to PTI, the army launched the Harran operation based on
signals resembling the type of device used in the twenty
second of April Pehelgam attack. That incident is under investigation
by the National Investigation Agency, which concluded that all three
(24:17):
attackers were Pakistani nationals. This finding revised earlier local police
inputs that had identified ban Kashmiri and two Pakistani suspects.
Igbalfurther reported that the NIA previously identified Suleman Shah alias
Mussa as a key figure in both the Pehelgam and
son Mark tunnel attacks. These overlapping investigations are informing the
(24:39):
probe into the identities of those killed in the current operation.
You were listening to Three Things by the Indian Express.
Today's show was edited and mixed by Sish Pawar and
produced by Niharikananda and me Ichasharma. If you like the show,
do subscribe to us wherever you get your podcast. You
can also record mend it to someone you think may
(25:01):
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