Matli students risk lives to go to school
Villagers saved two students who fell into a canal while crossing it through cables on way to school near Matli on Thursday. Scores of students from different villages have to cross the canal, named Akram Wah, using this cable in the absence of a bridge to reach their school in a village near Matli, Badin district.
More than 100 students, mostly from poor peasant families, are enrolled in the primary school, located in Qabool Jhahejo village, some two kilometers from Matli City. The students have to risk their lives twice a day because the cable is the only "time-saving" commute to and from their school.
A villager told The Express Tribune that a budget had been sanctioned about five years ago for the construction of a bridge. "But it was never constructed," Nabi Bux Jhahejo said. The contractor had erected pillars but never returned to complete the bridge, he added.
Unfortunately, Sindh Irrigation Department's officials also removed the pillars during the recent floods. "Now, there is no hope a bridge will ever be constructed," said Jhahejo.
He further said that another bridge is situated 7km away from where the students and the villagers cross the canal. "The villagers have to cross it even with heavy burdens. They have no other option but to use these cables," he added.
Jhahejo said that the old bridge had collapsed some seven years ago. He also said that water in the canal is about 20 feet deep. "It is risky and we see people falling into the canal," he said.
"I saw students and villagers crossing the canal through two electric wires fixed on both sides," said Hamsafar Gadhi, a journalist from Karachi who posted the photos to his social media account.
"I was shocked to see them crossing it risking their lives," he said. "But for local villagers, it is just a routine," he added.
A local teacher informed The Express Tribune: "It indicates the school is functional, the teacher is available and the students seem interested to get education." While speaking on the condition of anonymity, he said that the poor infrastructure created hurdles for students, parents and teachers. "It is not the job of the Education Department to construct bridges," he explained.
The photos of the students crossing the canal went viral on different social media platforms as activists criticized the provincial government and demanded immediate construction of the bridge for the students of Qabool Jhahejo village.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 26th, 2022.