With No Bridge Or Transport Facilities, These Kids In Uttarakhand Swim Everyday To Reach School

Swimming across Gaula river to reach her school is a routine affair for 15-year-old Gudiya Sammal.

And just like the class X student, other villagers of Pestola and Udwa cross the river on a daily basis to reach markets, schools and hospitals situated on the other side of the river in Haida Khan in Uttarakhand's Nainital district, in the absence of a bridge on the eight-km stretch.

After several protests by the odd 1,200 villagers in demand of a bridge, Haldwani based activist Gurvinder Singh Chadha filed a complaint with the Uttarakhand Human Rights Commission (UHRC) last year.

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The panel, taking strict note of the matter, last month asked the district magistrate (DM) of Nainital to file a reply in the matter at the earliest. The order also added that the DM should depute an officer not below the rank of additional district magistrate to explain the situation with records.

The commission also added that despite the DM calling upon three officers ¡ª district development officer, chief education officer and executive engineer of public works department (PWD) ¡ª no reply has been filed yet.

Chadha said that the villagers have been asking for a bridge since long and the government should have constructed one bridge for them by now.

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The villages have a school till class VIII and around 70 students cross the river on a daily basis to reach the government school in Haida Khan. There is no bridge or any temporary structure on the 8-km stretch of the Gaula river.

¡°I pack an extra pair of clothes in my bag along with books. And then I put my bag in a polythene cover and carry it on my head while crossing the river. I want to study more and if I don¡¯t do this, I won¡¯t be able to reach my school,¡± said Gudiya, who wants to become a teacher.

A resident of Udwa village, Kamal Belwal, said, ¡°We have been requesting the state government for a bridge but to no avail. In December 2015, a detailed project report for a 300-m bridge was sent to the state government for approval, but the proposal was rejected as the government refused to grant Rs 18 lakh to build the bridge. Even after 70 years of independence, we are not allowed our basic citizenship rights.¡±

The situation becomes worse when monsoon starts.

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¡°When the water keeps rising, the elders in the village form human chains and we try to hold to them while crossing the mighty Gaula during the rains. We even ask our juniors to hold our hands tight,¡± said Renu Arya, a student of class XI.

To avoid the harsh monsoons, villagers mostly stay indoors, but when schools can be missed, medical emergencies cannot be ignored. The nearest hospital is 27 km away and the road is non-motorable.

¡°Since walking 27 km is not an option every day, we carry sick people on stretchers made of bamboo. We cross the river carrying them on our shoulder. During monsoon, it becomes impossible to cross the river with stretchers due to the river¡¯s raging flow.

At such times, it takes us around six hours to reach the hospital,¡± Kamal Belwal, a local resident said, adding that boat services are not a viable option as no one wants to take up the profession. Other than monsoon, the boats won¡¯t be used and during monsoon, it is not safe.

Another villager, Birbal Sammal, said, ¡°Rains are not far away and if this time too, the government doesn¡¯t take up our cause, we will start our protest again.¡±