PATNA: Six school children and six adults on Thursday were missing after a country boat carrying them capsized midstream in the swollen Bagmati River in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district. The missing children were crossing the river on the boat to reach their school located on the other side of the river.
They were going to school because the state education department had made 75% attendance mandatory, failing which their names would be deleted from the rolls. Local residents said that the parents were compelled to send their children to school at the risk of their lives to adhere to the strict guidelines issued by the state government.
Nikhat Praveen, a Class 10 student at Baraul High School, was among those rescued by local residents. She could not recollect how she was saved. “I along with other people was crossing the river on the boat. Suddenly I heard a loud thud and the boat hit against a hard blunt substance. The boatman lost control,” she said.
Students have no other means of commuting except boats, she said. “There is no approach road to the school from my village. As a result, we have to cross the river on the boat to reach school,” she told the local media. The locals said that the boat carrying more than 30 people capsized midstream near Madhupur Patti Ghat under Gaighat block in Muzaffarpur district. Most of the people were crossing the river to go other side to fetch ration.
Umesh Yadav, another resident, said his nephew, a student of Class 10, was missing. He had left home with Rs 1,000 to fill up the form for matric exams. “He is traceless.” Poonam, another resident, said that her aunt Geeta had gone to fetch ration from a village located on the other side of the river. She is missing.
Nitish Kumar promises all help
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was in Muzaffarpur to inspect the construction work of a cancer institute named after Dr Homi Jehangir Bhabha, said, “I have asked the district magistrate to check it and provide necessary assistance to the families of the victims”