At least 35 teachers, including 15 women, belonging to seven government schools were rescued after the boat they were travelling in capsized in the Gandak river in Bihar’s West Champaran district on Monday morning.
The condition of a teacher, identified as Abha Kumari of Utkramit Madhya Vidhalaya Srinagar -1, is said to be serious. The incident came close on the heels of an incident where a government school teacher, Avinash Kumar (25), was swept away by strong currents in the Ganges on August 33 morning in Patna after he fell into the river while trying to board a boat on his way to his school located in a riverine area in Patna district. No trace of him has been found yet.
Giving a detailed account of the ordeal on Monday, Santosh Kumar Choudhary, Principal, Rajkiya Madhya Vidhalaya Srinagar, said that the incident occurred barely 100 metres after the boat carrying 38 people including 35 teachers and three local villagers and a boatman set off towards our destination when a boat coming from the opposite direction rammed into our boat near Patjirwa Keshwa Ghat under Srinagar Pujaha police station area of the district at around 8 am on Monday.
“Under the impact of the collision, the boat shook severely and capsized aided by the strong current of water in the Gandak River which was in full flow,” said the headmaster who along with other teachers was thrown into the river.
“I encountered a rushing stream of water which was dragging me with its strong force and I was struggling to keep my head above the water level before local villagers rescued me,” said Munna Kumar, a teacher belonging to Utkramit Madhya Vidhalaya Srinagar.
“We had a narrow escape as we all suffered from a raging wave that crashed into the water and threw us into the water. We all struggled and thank God we survived. It would have been a bigger catastrophe if it had happened at a shallow depth of the river,” said Ajam Ali, a teacher, echoing the common refrain.
However, at Patjirwa Keshwa Ghat, a common impulse gripped a dozen villagers and they rushed to rescue the drowning teachers. “We were suddenly alarmed by the distress call and soon understood what had happened. By the grace of God, no untoward incident occurred,” said Munilal Bin, who along with a dozen villagers rushed to rescue the teachers, using ropes and bamboo poles in an operation that lasted for nearly 10 to 15 minutes.
When contacted, Thakaraha ward education officer Umesh Singh said that as many as 35 teachers, 15 of them women, belonging to seven schools were on the boat at the time of the incident. “All of them were rescued,” the ward education officer said, adding that one teacher, Abha Kumari, was admitted to GMCH in Bettiah.
Meanwhile, teachers have asked to be shifted to other schools until the water level in Gandak subsides. “To reach our school, you have to travel through the water for almost 35 minutes. It is quite precarious,” the teachers told the media.
The education department has instructed district authorities after the Patna tragedy to ensure that only registered boats are used and that all passengers wear life jackets in flood-prone areas. Additional life jackets will be provided at major ghats across the state, but that is yet to be implemented.
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