Seems like district Udhampur has been seriously forsaken by the authorities assigned with development works. A couple of days back, we posted about a school of Moungri area of Udhampur where students take classes under the sky, in a forest. Today we bring news about a similar village.

Today, our subject is the students of a remote village Pachond in tehsil Latti-Marothi of district Udhampur. According to news report by the Early Times, the students not only cover long distance on foot but even have to swim across the river Tawi to reach their schools.

In their pursuit to get themselves educated, the students of Government Higher Secondary Schools, Jakhed and Latti wake up early in the morning and after covering long distance on foot, reach river Tawi. At his point, the students use their swimming skills to cross it as there is no bridge which could take them to the other end.

The routine is followed everyday as they have no other option to reach their schools. Earlier, the locals with their own efforts had built a bridge over river Tawi from Kugaini near Jakhed Dudu to Bali village which helped the population of about 5000 souls of Panchayat Pachond to connect with the nearest available road but flash floods triggered due to heavy rainfall washed away that bridge.

Read also: School running in dense forest under open sky in Udhampur

Since then the locals are demanding the construction of a bridge but till date successive governments have failed to build a bridge. Students alleged that nearly 400 students are forced to cross the river in the absence of a bridge.

Locals allege that repeated pleas to construct a bridge have fallen to deaf ears as from 1988 till date; their requests have never been heard.