Dhenkanal: Four years ago four school students were mowed down by a train while they were crossing railway tracks at Kaunriapal near Tentuliapada in Dhenkanal district.
The fear of a repeat of that ghastly accident is looming large as school children are still crossing railway tracks to go to their school and return home at Tentuliapada under Odapada block.
“We can’t forget the accident that took lives of four innocent children of our locality. Like any other day the school children were crossing the railway tracks. Suddenly, two trains approached from both sides and we lost four children. Even after four years, the same fear keeps us worrying for our children till their safe return from school,” said some villagers.
Children with school bags crossing railway tracks can be seen in the morning and afternoon on any given school day. “Going from one side of the track to the other side is always fraught with danger. They are crossing the tracks not because they are brave but they have no other option to get educated,” they alleged.
For the school children of Tentuliapada village a good road has always been in their wish list.
When this correspondent visited the village, he saw children walked through the gap between tracks and bogeys of a train as the train was made to halt due to signal problem. At that time, they were returning from their school.
This stretch of the tracks is a part of Dhenkanal-Sambalpur route which is one of the busiest routes in the state. Most of the time trains, both goods and passengers, are made to halt for signal problem. At the time of beginning and ending of school hours, if a train happens to be there on the tracks, it poses danger for students.
As they cannot afford to wait for the signal going green, they have to pass under the train. And if luck is not on their side and the train starts moving, the situation can well be imagined.
Though the village is just 15 km from the district headquarters, the administration is not taking any steps to ensure safe passage of the children.
“It seems the administration is waiting for a bigger mishap to wake up. It neither takes any steps to solve the problem nor any measures to sensitise students about the do’s and don’ts while crossing the tracks,” one villager pointed out.
When contacted, district education officer Sudhananda Parida said the students of all schools are being taught about traffic rules from time to time. “I am aware of the communication problem the children of Tentuliapada area are facing every day. After a spot visit, necessary steps would be taken,” he added. District child protection officer Anuradha Goswami echoed the same in her reaction.
“The administration is just dilly dallying when it comes to the fate of our children. What will it do if a mishap like that occurred four years ago takes place again?” asked the parents and senior villagers.
PNN
