Every time it rains, children in Pratappura village find their road to the school disappearing under water.
The school and hospital are three km away, in neighbouring Bhagodar village. But there is no pucca road linking the two villages; in fact what goes for 'road' is a nullah which gets flooded during the monsoon.
The village, in Dabhoi tehsil of Vadodara district, has a population of 200, most of them belonging to a tribal community.
Children carry their books and other study material in plastic bags, and sometimes even in plastic jugs to save them from getting wet; they also carry a change of clothes because teachers don't allow them to sit in wet clothes.
"We want education. But reaching the school becomes very difficult during the rainy season because there is no pucca road to Bhagodar. If somebody is sick, he has to be carried on a wooden cot through the water," said Anita Vasava, who walks to the school every day.
Sangitaben Vasava, another resident, said, "I can't work and earn my daily wages during the rains because I have to carry my son on shoulders to the school. But I want my son to study, because education is very important."
The situation becomes especially difficult if a seriously ill person or a pregnant woman is to be taken to the hospital in Bhagodar because ambulances or even auto-rickshaws can not reach the village when it rains, said Ajaybhai Vasava.
When contacted, tehsil development officer D M Tadvi conceded that villagers face a lot of difficulties during the monsoon. "We will take steps to permanently solve this problem which occurs during every rainy season," he said.
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