Jamshedpur: 169 Rescued From Roof of Flooded School Amid Rains

Police on Sunday rescued 169 people, including 162 schoolchildren trapped on the roof of an inundated residential school in Potka Block early Sunday morning after relentless rains since Saturday night triggered flash floods across the Ghatshila subdivision and flagged concern in Jamshedpur, officials said.

- Debashish Sarkar

JAMSHEDPUR:

Rainfall continued throughout Sunday, prompting the East Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan district administrations to issue a high alert. Authorities managing the Rairangpur irrigation system in Odisha also sounded alert regarding the radial gates of the Byangbil Dam on the Kharkai River.

Students and staff of the Luv Kush Residential School, located under the Kowali police station in Potka Block, were forced to take refuge on the roof after floodwaters submerged the entire building following hours of heavy rain.

"Kowali police received information about the school being submerged around 5.30 am on Sunday. Musabani DSP Sandip Bhagat and Kowali OC Dhananjay Paswan rushed to the spot along with the fire brigade. We had requested NDRF assistance, but our police teams managed to rescue all the children and staff before the NDRF arrived," Jamshedpur rural superintendent of police (SP) Rishabh Garg said.

Musabani DSP Sandip Bhagat said the team initially attempted to reach the school from the Hasina side, but access was cut off after a puliya (culvert) was washed away by surging waters from the Gurra River. "We finally reached the school via the Pandrashali route. All were brought safely to Pandrashali, and medical and food arrangements were made for them," Bhagat told HT on Sunday.