On Wednesday, a team of 25 members of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ORAF) rescued 248 students who were stuck in an Ashram school at Kendrapora district due to the rising flood waters for four days.
The students were learning at SC/ST Residential School, Kulasahi, in the territory of Brahmani River, which started to rise rapidly from Saturday and finally inundated the school building, leaving one floor underwater.
The students were rescued through three powerboats, said, Kendrapara district collector Raghuram Aiyar. These were then transported to two residential schools of the nearby Aul block.
The rescue operation took several hours. The rescued students’ food and refreshments have been arranged, says Ajit Kar, education officer of the block of Patthamundai.
The students were shifted to the second floor due to the flood water that spread to the first floor of the school, headmaster Soumendra Das said. The school was able to store enough food for about one week, which aided the pupils to hold out till they could be evacuated.
The long wait did present some problems, however, for the children. One student who was rescued commented on how difficult it was for them to bathe appropriately, access drinking water and use toilets in the four days. The student also reported snakes tumbling around the over-water property.
This situation brought much distress to the parents. Sanjay Mallick, whose 12-year-old son had got stuck said that he got no sleep in the past two nights while waiting for his son’s rescue.
District officials also admitted they had originally determined they would not evacuate the students because they thought it was safe for the children inside the school building. The success in the endeavor have now made relief to the students, parents and school officials, while the other parts of Kendrapara district continue to be impacted by the flood.