Gujarat: Villagers save 200 schoolchildren stuck in Anand

VADODARA/ANAND: Videos of school children stranded in gushing rainwater and being rescued by villagers in the Anand district have gone viral.
On Tuesday evening, nearly 200 school children got stranded as water gushed into their school campus at Sarol village located in Borsad taluka of Anand district. The flow of water was strong. But alert villagers rescued the children by extending a rope and pulling them all to a safer location.
Students of the government primary school were, however, already sent to their homes after heavy rains on Tuesday. “Our village had witnessed continuous rain for two hours because of which water the village, leaving several low-lying areas marooned,” said former sarpanch Shakti Jadav.
When students of class 9 to class 12 left their school — the Sarvoday Uttar Buniyadi Vidyalaya — at around 5 pm there was no way that they could reach their home safely.
“Since there was continuous rain, lakes from nearby villages were also overflowing. The overflowing water entered the Athamno Bhagol area. The kids had to cross a ‘kans’ in order to reach a safer spot. We extended the ropes so that they could be rescued one by one,” said Jadav, who along with other villagers carried out the rescue operation.
Located on the banks of river Mahi, the village has ravines.
“These ravines get flooded when there is heavy rain. Fortunately, we could rescue all the children, who reached their homes safely,” he said, adding that by late night, the water levels also receded.