Spell of heavy rain during school holds up parents on roads, kids wait in schools
Telegraph | 22 February 2025
A spell of heavy rain around the time many schools give over stranded children and parents on Thursday.
Dispersal got delayed and in some schools, there were reports of waterlogging inside and outside the campus.
In most schools, pre-primary and primary classes get over between 11am and noon, a time when the rain was at its peak.
In many schools, senior children are leaving at the same time because of the ongoing exams.
At several schools, the gates were crowded and chaotic.
Children got wet because not all of them were carrying umbrellas or raincoats.
Parents kept sending messages to teachers or fellow parents to inform schools that they were stuck on the road.
A parent of a Class II student started from her home in Kasba, near Acropolis Mall, at 11.30am but reached her daughter’s school in Minto Park at 12.45pm, well past the dispersal time.
“Many parents were late. It usually takes me around 30 minutes but I started early today because of the rain. I was still stranded on the road. At Ekdalia, the car’s wheels were half submerged in water.... In Ballygunge, the car would just not move,” said Swagata Chatterjee.
Schools put platforms or benches to help children to pool cars, buses or private vehicles.
“Unlike other days, we allowed all vehicles — pool cars and private vehicle — inside the campus for children to board. Naturally, the dispersal was delayed by over an hour,” said Gargi Banerjee, principal, Sri Sri Academy.
A school bus, which goes to Behala from Alipore, could leave the premises only around 1.30pm instead of 12.30pm and dropped off the last child past 2.30pm, an official of the school said.
The school had sent a message to parents that children would reach home late. The non-teaching staff were using wipers to drain the water from the premises as children waited to board the vehicles.
The staff at Mahadevi Birla World Academy placed benches in the foyer to help primary schoolchildren cross the waterlogged area.
“We had to put out two rows of benches,” said Nupur Ghosh, vice-principal of the school.
South City International School dispersed pre-primary children from classrooms instead of the open space on the premises.
“Many parents were late. Security from the adjoining mall helped us to conduct the dispersal and navigate the cars,” said principal Satabdi Bhattacharjee.