On all working day mornings, home maker S. Chitra accompanies her daughter S. Loganayaki to school. It’s a short walk of not more than five to seven minutes but does accompany 15-year-old Loganayaki.
And, Loganayaki wants her mother’s company as she’s scared of crossing the railway to track to reach her school, the Government Higher Secondary School, Irugur. The town is over 15 km from Coimbatore.
Chitra repeats the chore every evening as well. She crosses four railway tracks, reaches the school, picks up her daughter’s bags and returns home after crossing the four tracks. This has been her routine for over five years now, ever since Loganayaki graduated from the government primary school to the higher secondary school. Not all students are as lucky as Loganayaki.
Most of them group together to cross the track to and from school, says S. Dinesh, a Class X student. It’s become a routine for him to walk on the tracks to reach school and is almost used to it but the fear lurks somewhere in the back of his head. “I’m still scared,” he says.
Hygiene
The higher secondary school teaches 610 students from classes six to 12, almost all of who cross the tracks between 8 and 9 a.m. and again between 4.10 and 4.45 p.m. It is not just about safety but also hygiene. Often they find food and human wastes on the tracks - a repulsive sight, the students say. The perilous crossing of the tracks has prevented the students from using the free bicycle the State Government had distributed to the Plus One and Plus Two students. There are around 150 boys and girls in the two classes.
“What’s the point in riding the bicycle when we can’t take it to the school,” asks A. Surya, a Plus Two student.
A school teacher, on condition of anonymity, says that the students tried using bicycle by parking it on the northern side of the track, near the houses abutting the track, but decided to give up fearing safety.
The result: the school ground is empty and there is no parking lot.
To help the students, the Government Higher Secondary School teachers’ have an additional duty that what the Government has mandated - they call it track duty. On most working days, two teachers stand on both sides of the track to guide students to safety to the other side.
This has been the schedule for about eight years, ever since the Government constructed the higher secondary school, says the teacher.
Irugur residents say there is an easy solution available but the students are unable to use it. The State Highways Department has constructed an underpass but has not created the approach road or access or exit points, complains Irugur resident D. Senthilraj. With the track remaining closer to the ground level, the entry into the underpass requires an approach road or access from a distance.
The residents have staged so many protests but the department is yet to respond to their requests. It should do so at the earliest, demands resident S. Boopathy, adding it is a question of students’ safety.
An official of the Highways department says that the actual cost for the main works in this project exceeded the estimated cost as it involved land acquisition. The Railways completed its work just three months ago. In order to go in for an underpass, approximately ₹2 crore is required.
The Highways Department is preparing a report to get the required funds from the Government. It can take three to six months to get the required amount. The department is also looking at temporary measures that can be created. “We are trying to expedite the process to get the additional amount soon,” the official said.
(with inputs from
M. Soundariya Preetha)
