Bangiriposi: Taking off their clothes and crossing river Budhabalanga, is a routine for schoolchildren of Banakati, a village in this block of Mayurbhanj district.
In the absence of a bridge across the river, the children have no other way to reach Netura Pata High School. They go through this ordeal six months a year. Sadly, the administration has failed to take note of the children’s plight.
All children studying in the high school carry with them towels. Villagers said as the kids reach the riverbank, they take off their uniforms and put on towels before wading through chest-deep water.
The woes of communication fail to deter the spirit of these children, locals said.
The state and Central governments have been implementing a host of schemes to boost education, but those seem to be futile for Banakati panchayat, locals lamented.
Sanjit Baitha, a villager, said, “70 years have passed since Independence, but the village has no high school. If the government sets up a high school, there will be no need for the children to cross the river. The government will be held responsible if anything happens to these children.”
The administration has not made provision of ferrying the kids across the river or arranged alternative means of communication, the villagers rued.
In the dry season, the villagers erect a makeshift bride across the river for convenience of communication, but it gets washed away in the rainy season.
Budhabalanga is the dividing line between Banakati and Naphri panchayats. As monsoon arrives, the woes of the people start compounding. The area virtually remains cut off from the rest of the world.
During the season, the villagers and schoolchildren take a roundabout alternative route of 12 km to reach their destinations.
Kapilash Kumar Behera of Banakati observed that it would be better, if the local administration makes provision of either rubber tubes or boats for the schoolchildren to cross the river. PNN
