Dhading [Nepal], September 1 (ANI): Binita Ramtel had returned to her school in Baireni almost a week after a devastating flood swept through the town, only to find the playground where she had once played and attended morning assemblies transformed into a sea of sand, while her classroom had been buried under layers of sludge and debris.
On August 26, Binita had barely arrived at Bageshwori Higher Secondary School and kept her bag in the classroom when teachers issued an urgent warning for students to evacuate towards higher ground.
"I had just arrived at the school, I had just kept my bag in the classroom and was preparing to come to the ground for the morning assembly, then the teachers made the announcement that the flood was on its way and asked us to evacuate, after which we fled from here," Binita had told ANI while visiting her classroom.
The flood had reached Baireni after 9 AM local time, around the time students usually arrived for the morning assembly, which lasted about 15-20 minutes.
The scene inside the school still bore signs of the sudden evacuation. Bags had remained on desks, while Binita and her friend Prasamsha Magrati had found several students' belongings damp and tiffin boxes with food still inside them.
The town of Baireni, situated along the Prithvi Highway, had been inundated on Wednesday as floodwaters swept through the area, depositing sludge and sand measuring up to two metres above the river's level.
The school, located close to the river, was able to save the lives of around 400 students after teachers had received an early warning from a guardian living upstream.
"When the students were preparing to attend the PT or the assembly, one of our teachers got information about the flood from Nuwakot. After that, our teacher Prakash Malla (Principal) announced from the office to get out of the school and all students ran away from here and are safe," Dipendra Wagle, science teacher at Bageshwori Higher Secondary School, had told ANI.
The mud markings visible on the walls of the school building indicate the height reached by the floodwaters and the scale of the devastation. The swift response of the teachers ensured hundreds of students moved to safety before the flood reached the school.
Rajkumar Rimal, the father of one of the students, had said he was working in the field when his spouse alerted him that the Betrawati River in Nuwakot had already been swept by the floodwaters and that the current was moving downstream.
"I was working in the field that day, and my spouse called me, warning that the Betrawati in Nuwakot had already been swept away by the flood and it is running downstream. The status of the students in school was my primary concern, as the two schools here are of direct concern and threat of the flood. I hurriedly came to the school and saw everyone was panicking and teachers were shifting the students to the safer grounds from here; I also helped them to evacuate students to the higher grounds successfully," Rimal had told ANI.
Nearly a week after the disaster, the school premises had remained covered in mud and sludge, with a foul smell emanating from the debris. It remains uncertain when the institution would be able to reopen and welcome students back for classes.
UNICEF had estimated that around 17,000 children needed humanitarian assistance following the August 26 floods, which had so far left more than 900 people dead and hundreds missing.
The UN agency had appealed for USD 17.2 million to sustain the emergency response and support early recovery until the full extent of the needs was assessed. Search and relief operations had continued across the worst-affected districts of Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading.
For Binita, the flood had also meant losing belongings that had been part of her daily life at school.
"If it is provided by the local cooperatives; if not, then I am alive, I will buy it again," Binita had said. (ANI)
Minutes to spare: How fast-thinking teachers saved 400 students from Nepal's deadly flood
