Kids negotiate risky caved-in bridge to reach school in Khunti
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Ranchi: For scores of children and their parents, the road to school in the adjoining Khunti district is a risk-filled journey these days.
While kids sit on their parents' backs to first climb a 25-foot-high makeshift ladder to get atop a caved-in bridge, grown-ups undertake this daily adventure on their own for the onward journey.
The reason? The lone bridge, known as Pelol Bridge, which connects to their school, was washed away in mid-June. With no alternate road so far, hundreds are left with no other option than to undertake these daredevil stunts to reach school, as the school management also halted bus services due to the broken bridge.
Rakesh Munda, the father of a Class 4 student, who studies at a private school a kilometre away from the bridge, said that while a kutcha diversion was prepared by the district administration soon after the bridge caved in, that too was literally washed away during successive rains since then.
"Not just for these students, even for the general public living in nearby areas, commuting between both ends has become a daily challenge," he said.
Munda, a resident of Torpa block, added, "I know it's risky to travel this way, but my kids won't agree to stay at home. Initially, for two days they missed school, but later they became impatient to resume classes. I have no other option than to take them on my shoulders to climb the ladder to reach the top of the broken bridge, and then walk to the school."
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Another parent from Bisna village said, "With no school buses now, I am driving my son daily from home, 4 km away from here, and park the bike here. Then, we use this ladder put up by locals for daily commute to get onto the bridge for the onward journey."
The said bridge, built over the Banai River on the Khunti-Simdega main stretch, is also one of the key connecting roads to neighbouring Odisha. It was built in 2007-08 with an investment of Rs 6 crore.
Talking to TOI, staff of Katherine Academy said, "Only in our school, over 100 students are affected due to this broken bridge. People coming from Torpa, Bisna, Angrabari, and beyond have no other option. We had to stop our bus services to these places due to the broken bridge," she said.
The area falls under Murhu block. Local block development officer, Ranjit Kumar Sinha, acknowledged the problems but said that a permanent solution will take time. He said, "I too have learnt about people scaling the risky bridge for commute and have requested the local thana to keep patrolling to avert any mishaps or deter people from doing so. A diversion was created as an alternate route from nearby the bridge. Construction of a permanent bridge involves lots of clearances, but the rural development department is learnt to have already sanctioned a new bridge worth around Rs 3 crore.
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