Mail News Service
Jamshedpur, March 15: Water crisis has already started weighing down on students of a large number of schools in Potka Block near Jamshedpur with summer just knocking. Students have to carry water from distant places to soothe their parched throats. A case in point is that of Upgraded Middle School at Bada Sigdi by the side of Kalikapur main road. The school is just 5 kilometers away from the Potka Block Office. It may well be imagined what the state of the many other schools is in the Potka Block where the water level of tubewells have gone down drastically.
After the state government’s announcement of resumption of schools from classes 8 to 12, the students made their way to their centres with the enthusiasm to begin studies anew but with the drying up of tubewells, drinking water needs have become heavier than carrying school bas and getting back to learning ways.
Bada Sigdi Upgraded Middle School principal Mantu Patar pointing out to the four tubewells in the compound stated, “Summer has just begun and the water crisis has emerged 2with it. While three tubewells have remained defective over a long period of time, the initial water drawn from the one still working is muddy and sedimented and unfit for drinking purposes as the water level here goes down fast. As a result, students have to fetch water from long distances.”
One of the 221 students attending classes at the Bada Sigdi school said, “midday meals have not yet commenced. As such we have to drink water to quench our thirst and keep hunger at bay till we reach home after school and have our lunch.”
The Jharkhand government’s Drinking Water and Sanitation Department should act fast andf prioritize the repair of dysfunctional tubewell sets in schools so that the paucity of drinking water does not hamper the educational pursuits of students. The Upgraded Middle School has classes from kindergarten to class 8 and has 221 students on its muster.