Teachers teaching in schools of many villages in Bagaha, Bihar are forced to cross the Gandak river risking their lives. It takes them more than an hour to cover a distance of six kilometers every day. Because of the lack of big boats, they are forced to resort to small and unsafe boats.
In fact, there are dozens of schools in Madhubani, Piprasi and Thakraha blocks where teachers have to cross the Gandak river to reach. Due to lack of big boats, they have to depend on small boats. The villagers do not have any safety equipment to cross the river.
Every day teachers have to cross the overflowing river through flooded areas and footpaths, where there are no safety arrangements. Traveling without basic safety facilities like life jackets is proving to be extremely dangerous for teachers. Regarding this, teacher Ayush Kumar says that the distance of his school is only six kilometers, which can be covered in just 10 minutes by bike, but due to crossing the river, this journey becomes more than an hour long.
Teacher Gyan Prakash Chaturvedi said that only small boats are available to go to school. Due to strong winds, the boats sometimes sway, which creates fear in their minds. But they have no other option. Despite repeated requests to the local administration and the education department, no solution to this problem has been found so far. Teachers and villagers are constantly demanding the administration to operate bigger boats.
The Block Education Officer said that as per the instructions issued by the Education Department, necessary security arrangements will be ensured for the teachers crossing the river to go to school. He said that instructions have been issued to arrange government boats, life jackets and divers for the teachers. This step has been taken keeping in mind the recent incident of a teacher becoming a victim of a boat accident in Danapur. Apart from this, teachers have also been given an extra hour of time to reach the school along with these facilities.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)