The tragic death of 16-year-old Rahul Bind, a Class 11 science student of Deepvihar Higher Secondary School, Sada-Vasco, has exposed a deeply disturbing failure of institutional responsibility in the State. Rahul was swept away by strong currents at the Tonir-Kajredhat waterfall in Savarde-Sattari, a site where entry, swimming and bathing had been expressly prohibited by the District Magistrate under Section 163 of the BNSS, 2023.
The incident has not only raised questions about insensitivity towards students but has also exposed gaps in enforcement and administrative protocols. Firstly, it baffles the mind that an institute organised a trek to a banned waterfall, that too during the monsoons. Authorities have been consistently appealing to tourists and locals to keep away from waterfalls because of high risks. How could an institution entrusted with the safety of children knowingly take them to a prohibited area?
Tonir-Kajredhat is no ordinary picnic spot. Its underwater rock formations, deceptively deep pools and powerful currents make it particularly treacherous during heavy rainfall. Yet the four accompanying teachers and the school management chose to proceed, apparently relying on private tour guides. It’s not only a lack of application of mind by teachers who accompanied the students, but also a failure of the school management, including the Headmaster, who is primarily responsible for clearing the trek. A school is not merely a place where children receive an education. It is an institution responsible for children’s safety and wellbeing. That being said, there is an equal failure of the parents too. How did the parents of these 23 students give consent to the forest trek?
The Forest Department appears to be washing its hands off by using the prohibition as a shield. Are circulars and orders enough to secure prohibited areas? Do such orders absolve officials of duties to man these danger spots? We understand barricading is not a practical solution, but there should be some oversight, letting these areas open is not the solution.
What about the Education Department? The absence of a robust and enforceable framework governing school excursions stands exposed. Safety circulars cannot be treated as advisory notes that schools may follow at their convenience. The silence of the Education Department is deafening. If children are being taken into forests, waterfalls or other high-risk locations, there must be clear rules, prior approvals and accountability at every stage.
Goa cannot continue to lose young lives and then respond with investigations, bookings and statements. Rahul was reportedly the seventh youth from Vasco to die by drowning in just six months. Sattari has reported over 50 such drowning deaths in the past ten years. Each such death should have forced the administration to course-correct so that these tragedies are not repeated. Unfortunately, lessons are not being learnt.
Accountability must therefore go beyond expressions of regret. Those responsible for taking the students into a prohibited and dangerous location must face the full consequences of the law. At the same time, the government must put in place mandatory, legally enforceable safety clearance procedures for every educational excursion, particularly those involving forests, waterfalls, rivers, beaches and other high-risk locations.
Children should never have to pay with their lives for an institution’s failure to follow rules. It’s a sorry state that schools which preach discipline, responsibility and respect for the law in the classroom are allowing reckless disregard for those very principles outside the precincts.
