Schoolchildren brave swollen Beas in mand region

With the Beas river in the spate in the mand area of lower Kangra region due to release of excess water from the Pong Dam by the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), normal life has been disrupted in the Indora and Fatehpur subdivisions.

Students in Riyali mand panchayat in Fatehpur are being ferried to private schools in Indora and Badukhar area in a wooden boat arranged by the local administration.

Sixty students and 12 teachers of Government Senior Secondary School, Riyali, are also using the boat as the means of transport.

The students and teachers had a narrow escape on Monday when the boat was caught in the strong current of Beas river. Timely intervention by locals saved the day.

Parents are worried over the safety of their wards as their travel to the school is fraught with danger. The schoolchildren were travelling in the boat without safety measures or life jackets.

The Riyali-Badukhar link road was closed last month when around a 50-metre stretch was washed away in a flashflood. The Beas river has been changing its course for the past over a month after excess water is released by the BBMB. The swollen river has damaged rural infrastructure, besides inundating inhabited area and agricultural land. With water level the Pong Dam crossing the danger mark of 1390 ft due to incessant rainfall, the Fatehpur and Indora SDMs had declared holidays in most of the mand area schools on September 17 and 18. Meanwhile, the parents have demanded a motorboat and all safety measures for their wards travelling to school in boats.

The water level recorded by the BBMB in the Pong Dam during the past 24 hours has shown no change. As per data procured from the local administration, the level of 1394.85 feet at 4pm on Wednesday remained unchanged at 2 pm on Thursday.