They lug school bags on their shoulders or carry them on their heads, clutch their school shoes, balancing each other, as they wade through the currents of the Thenpennai river.
This act of unavoidable and risky bravery is the daily school routine for children of Podur, Aliyaalam and Ramapuram in KaamanthottyPanchayat of Krishnagiri. The river is perennial thanks to flows from the Kelavarapalli dam.
To avoid the river crossing, children and elders here must take an eight-kilometre detour along a forest-fringed path that elephants often visit.
The river rings three hamlets, cutting off a population of over 1,000 from the rest of Kaamanthotty Panchayat.
Kaamanthotty panchayat, ironically, has the means to fund a bridge and actually proposed one. “ThePanchayat gets revenue from a local stone quarry. We funded our roads from our own quarry revenue. All we need now is clearance from the district administration to build the bridge,” says Chandrappa, Panchayat president of Kaamanthotty.
The Panchayat drew up a Rs.1.30 crore proposal and presented it to the administration. But it was rejected, says Mr. Chandrappa. ‘We were told that there was no provision for low-level bridges anymore on safety grounds.”
This has left the children wading to school, and the adults for their engagement with the world. During monsoons, when the river is in spate, children are cut off. “Over 100 to 150 children have to go to school from these villages. But we are unable to send them when the waters are high,” says Manju, whose two elder daughters have completed Plus Two but are home-bound because there is no bridge.
It is the daughters of the villages who suffer more, and cannot go to work. “Even for a matchbox, we have to step into the water,” she says.
Lone coracle, no permit
“I cross with 30 other girls from Podur,” says Amrita, a class eight student. The girls don’t go to school during their menstrual cycle, when the water level is high. A lone coracle is sometimes engaged to ferry people at Rs.10 per head.
“The coracle operates without permit, and is never there. The authorities expect people to travel the eight kilometres,” says Mr. Chandrappa.
When contacted, Collector C. Kathiravan said a proposal was sent by the PWD, but was however pending with the State Government.
The alternative for children and
elders is to
take an eight-kilometre detour
