No Bridge, Students Forced to Cross Shipra River in a Boat to Reach the School

We read countless stories in our school textbooks that great leaders including first president of India Rajendra Prasad used to go to the school by crossing rivers barefoot. Even after 70 years of independence, it still remains a reality in Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh, where students go to the school by crossing the Shipra river with a makeshift boat. Ironically, the area falls in the constituency of State Education Minister Deepak Joshi.

There are around 50 villages situated on the bank of Shipra River in Dewas district. The river separates Indore from Dewas district. There is no school in the radius of five to 10 km; not even a private school. The nearest government school is in the Hirli village of Indore district which is located on the other side of the Shipra River and around a kilometer away from the village.

Hundreds of students from Simrod and other nearby villages gather at the river bank every day, and cross the river with the help of a makeshift boat (made up of mustard oil tin containers) and plastic rope, tied on the both sides of tresses.

Despite the concerns regarding their children’s safety, residents of Simrod and nearby villages are forced to send their kids to the nearest government school, so that the children can get educated and secure their future.

Kayyum Khan, a resident, said, “We are paying the price of living on the border of Dewas district. Government officials and leaders have turned blind eye on us. Locals have been risking their children’s life to get them educated. We pray for safe return of our children every day, especially, in the Monsoon.”

Due to the heavy flow and force of the water, the boat has overturned in many instances, and villagers have somehow managed to save them, but these incidents have failed in giving a wake-up call the education minister of the state and member of legislative assembly of the area Joshi. “He might have been waiting for any mishap to take some action. Either to open a school in the area, so, the student can study there or build a bridge on the river,” said Suhel Khan, another resident of the Simrod village.

How do they go to the school?

After getting dressed, every morning students gather on the bank of Shipra River. Taking shoes in their hands and with school bags on their back, they enter the deep and slippery mud by forming a human chain to reach the boat.

After boarding the boat, students catch the two-inch-thick plastic rope and slowly move towards the other side of the river, praying for a safe passage. They follow the same procedure on way back home.

In between, if anyone slips in the slippery mud, the entire human chain breaks, and they fell into the deep mud. They go back to the home then without attending school. “This is a daily affair for us, especially in the monsoon season. Owing to the heavy flow of water, our parents did allow us to appear for the examination, we were forced to skip it,” said standard eight student Zoya.

Government’s apathy

After the linking of the Shipra River with the Narmada River under Narmada Shipra Sihastha Link Pariyojana in 2015, water flows throughout the year in the river. However, there is no bridge on the river, in patch of around 40 km.

When contacted, collector of the Dewas district, Shrikant Pandey said that he will conduct an inquiry soon, and will take concrete steps to solve this issue.

MLA from the constituency (Hatpipalya) Joshi said, “After the linking of the Narmada and the Shipra rivers, this problem has immerged and it came to my notice recently. As a part of our government’s policy, we are planning to open middle and primary school there, and it will happen soon.”