Punjab floods: 381 students, 70 teachers stranded in school rescued by NDRF, BSF

Gurdaspur, Aug 27 (PTI) Teams from the NDRF and the BSF conducted a rescue operation on Wednesday for 381 students and 70 teachers at the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Daburi, who were stranded due to flooding in the school campus and surrounding areas, officials said.

The Daburi area flooded as the water level of the Ravi river rose, reaching depths of 4-5 feet within the school.

The school principal received a notice for not sending the children and staff home despite a holiday being declared. Boats were deployed to evacuate the trapped students and staff to safer locations, officials mentioned further.

Earlier, the principal requested assistance from the district administration, following which Deputy Commissioner Dalwinderjit Singh dispatched teams to evacuate the affected individuals.

Many teams of the Border Security Force and the National Disaster Response Force were deployed to rescue the students and the teachers.

The district education officer issued a show-cause notice to the principal, citing negligence regarding the safety of the students. The notice questioned why the principal did not dismiss the students when the district administration had declared a holiday for all schools.

Additionally, the district administration had repeatedly warned of potential flooding near the Ravi, and officials deemed it unacceptable to ignore these warnings and jeopardise the students' safety.

The Punjab government declared a holiday for all schools from August 27 to August 30. Singh mentioned that the district administration was receiving calls for help from people in flood-affected areas and that teams were promptly responding to assist them.

He stated that the water level in the Ravi had decreased slightly, and the administration was fully prepared to manage the situation, assuring residents there was no need for panic.

Heavy rains in the catchment areas of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir had swollen rivers and rivulets, inundating many villages and low-lying areas across several districts in Punjab. The situation remained severe in many flood-hit areas, with ongoing relief and rescue operations being conducted by the local administrations, aided by the NDRF, the Army, and state agencies.

The worst-affected villages are in Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Fazilka, Kapurthala, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Hoshiarpur and Amritsar districts. PTI CHS MPL MPL