Joida: More than 50 students who were stranded on one side of an overflowing river were rescued by villagers at Chandewadi of Joida taluk in Uttara Kannada district on Tuesday evening.

Most of the children of Chandewadi and surrounding villages go to schools of Asu and Ramnagar villages by crossing a bridge across Pandari river. As usual on Tuesday morning they went to Asu and Ramnagar schools. Following incessant rain in Joida taluk, the bridge submerged on Tuesday afternoon cutting off connectivity.

Around 4.30 pm on Tuesday, the children who had gone to school came back near the bridge, only to see it submerged. Their parents were tense as their children were stranded on the other side of the river. Meanwhile villagers gathered on the river bank and planned a rescue attempt. Gram panchayat member from the village Ramesh Gawada said the expert boatmen from Ganeshgudi were called in to rescue the stranded children.

“Boats were brought from a resort in Dandelli and we had to do many trips to bring back the children to the other bank,” he said. On Wednesday the students of Chandewadi village had rides in rafts to reach their school. They were brought back by the same rafts after their classes. However, the attendance in schools dipped, said the villagers.

Even on Wednesday, the river was flowing above the danger mark. The villagers noted that this is the story every year. The bridge constructed across the river is low in height and during every monsoon, the connectivity gets cut off. “We have requested ministers, officials and many others, but no one has come forward to construct a new bridge. During rescue operation on Tuesday, luckily no untoward incident happened,” said a villager.