Cyclone Fengal impacts school tours across K’taka

Hubballi: Cyclone Fengal has not only affected the areas it has passed through, but also disrupted educational tours of schools and colleges in the state. Many schools either postponed their tours or changed their destinations. They stopped visiting Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, and the Dakshina Kannada and Madikeri districts in the state. Meanwhile, state-run road transport corporations, which are facing a scarcity of buses, are also under pressure to arrange buses as per the rescheduled tours. However, students who were prepared to go on a tour are disappointed over the limbo.
Vivekananda Vishwadnya, chief traffic manager, NWKRTC, told TOI that many depots are receiving requests to reschedule or change the destinations. "As the cyclone situation is inevitable, our depot managers are cooperating accordingly in the interest of school children," he added.
Vinayak, a teacher in Ron taluk, said they were supposed to leave on Tuesday night, but rescheduled for next week. "As the govt issued red/yellow alerts for coastal districts, we postponed it," he stated.
An official the Gadag dicision of NWKRTC confirmed that they are receiving such requests. "We are accepting the change, but we are also telling them to allow us to provide buses as per availability. If they ask for a specific date, sometimes we cannot arrange it. Hence, we are suggesting that they wait for another day or two," he said.
Chandrashekhar Nugli, general secretary, Karnataka State Primary School Teachers' Association, noted that some schools planned to visit Dakshina Kannada and Madikeri districts, while others planned to visit Tamil Nadu and Kerala. "Following the meteorological department's prediction, many schools rescheduled their tours, and some schools changed the tour to safer places in the interest of students' and teachers' safety," he said.
Shashi, Kala, Vinay, and Ajay, students at a high school in Hubballi, expressed their disappointment over the cancellation of their trip to Tamil Nadu. "Now our teachers have reduced the three-day tour to one day and are taking us to Hampi and Hosapete Dam," they shared.