M. Maheshwaran, a Class III student at a private school in Pulicat, stands leaning against a wall on Kallukadaimedu lane looking apprehensively at a boat on the Pulicat lake even as boatman Kothandan calls out to him. The boat rocks precariously, and Maheswaran refuses to get on it.
For over a decade, hundreds of students like him staying in fishing hamlets like Sattankupam, Pasiyavaram Kuppam, Rahmat Nagar and Idamani colony on one side of the lake have been either wading through knee-deep water or using two boats to go to schools. Their demand for a bridge across the river is yet to materialise.
From 7.30 a.m to 9 a.m and from 3.30 p.m to 4.30 p.m every day, hundreds of parents take the ferry across the river to drop and pick their children. For a one-way trip, the fare is ₹5. “My father scolds me if I get into the boat without my mother. I prefer walking on where the path is seen as a white stretch. If we step away from this path, we will land on thorns and slush,” says Maheshwaran with a sly smile.
Most parents of the villages were shaken after a boat capsized in Pulicat lake in 2011 and by the recent accident in Andhra Pradesh. Residents claim that many parents of primary school students have had their wards drop out fearing the daily trips. The water level in the lake between the village and Pulicat hamlet is knee-deep during summer and during monsoon it goes up, to about five feet.
There are children who have shifted to Chennai due to this commuting problem. “My friend Rajeshwari was staying at her grandmother’s house and studying in my school. But two years ago she shifted,” says G. Monisha, a Class XI standard student at Jagadambal Subramanian Government High School in the locality.
Safety a worry
Parents too don’t feel safe travelling on the boat. “I fell down while clambering on to a boat a few days ago and another child also fell into the water recently. Luckily there was help nearby,” says Hema, a resident of Satankuppam.
Durai Mahendran, Tiruvallur district Parambariya Aikiya Meenavar Sangam, said that even for medical emergencies, there is no option but to rely on the boats. “We have been fighting for the bridge between Ponneri - Pulicat High Road and Pasiyavaram Kuppam. I sent a petition to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2011 and several to the State government but there has been no action,” he said.
Chandra Mohan and Murugan, residents of Sattankuppam and Idamani villages, said that sometimes they pool money and lay a mud road across the shallow section of the river. It eventually washes out.
Highways Department officials said that the land required for the bridge falls under the bird sanctuary. “We have already handed over the compensatory land near Kolur village to the Forest Department for afforestation. We will call for tenders soon,” said an official.
