Army, NDRF rescue 400 students from flood-stricken Navodaya school in Punjab's Gurdaspur

Teams of the Army and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) commenced the process of rescuing nearly 400 children and 40 staff members of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya at Daburi village, 12 km from Gurdaspur. The school is located on the Gurdaspur-Dorangla road.

Khalsa Aid, a UK-based international non-profit humanitarian organisation, provided support to the official teams. It had sent half a dozen members to deal with the situation.

The rescue operation was hindered as vehicles could not reach the institution due to broken and flood-inundated roads. Daburi villagers played a vital role after they got to know that the district administration officials might get late in reaching the site following their engagements relating to the visit of the Chief Minister in nearby Dinanagar. They made an announcement from a religious place asking every able person who owns tractor-trolleys “to help the children in distress”. Thirty minutes later, half a dozen tractor-trolleys arrived in the school compound.

Since floodwaters prevented adjoining villagers from coming to the site, it was left to the Daburi villagers to take the children to safety. Villagers drove their tractors through 3-4 ft of water to reach the doorstep of the school building, which was housing the nervous students.

“The villagers showed what determination and resilience can do in the face of adversity. They rose to the occasion to salvage the sensitive situation,” said a senior officer.

The operation is likely to continue till late in the evening even as the district administration requisitioned floodlights and more manpower. With a majority of officers busy with the CM's scheduled visit to Behrampur in the Dinanagar sub-division, Regional Transport Officer (RTO) Navjot Sharma, was dispatched to the school by Deputy Commissioner (DC) Dalwinderjit Singh.

Two boats each of the Army and NDRF did duty as the students slowly made their way out of the school premises and reached the boats, which later took them to Lakhanpal village and Gurdaspur. DC Dalwinderjit Singh said parents had been asked to gather at both these places.

“We will hand over the children to the parents at these places,” he said.

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya is a boarding school. The institution was not vacated despite clear orders from the DC.

“The principal is sure to face a difficult time now. He was under instructions to close the school in view of the threatening flood situation. Heads are bound to roll once the inquiry report is submitted to the DC,” said an officer.

Floodwaters from the river Ravi had breached its embankments and subsequently advanced nearly 9 km inland. On the way, dozens of villages were submerged, with their crops flattened, before the waters encircled the school. There was 3-4 ft of water in the school compound, and only when things threatened to go out of hand did the principal Naresh Kumar raise an alarm.

One parent questioned why the students were not sent home earlier, especially when the district authorities were aware of the impending flood situation three days ago. He questioned the logic of keeping students at the school when a three-day holiday had already been declared for all schools in Gurdaspur district.

According to sources, Kiran Nullah, which flows adjacent to the school, has not been cleaned in years. Its poor maintenance has led to the accumulation of floodwater in and around the school premises.

Locals warn that the current water levels surpass those seen during the devastating 1988 floods. They also point out that the school stands in a flood-prone area where inundation occurs almost annually.

The land for the school was given free of cost by the Daburi village panchayat for the institution’s construction.