Arjun Santhosh, 14, has become a hero of Perumbalam island near Cherthala here.
Arjun Santhosh, 14, has become a hero of Perumbalam island near Cherthala here. Through a daring act performed by this Class 9 student of Poothotta HSS, he has forced the district authorities to initiate steps to fulfil the 25-year-long demand of the 13,000 villagers for a 700-metre river bridge to connect to the mainland.
There are now six boat services run by the state water transport department. But four of them are irregular and the students from the village were often late to reach the school at Poothotta. The authorities had never cared for their demand for a bridge.
So, on the morning of June 1, Arjun, who was on the way to his school located three km from his house, started a novel protest. He took off his school uniform, put it in a plastic cover, jumped into the backwaters of Vembanad and swam to the other side. On the tenth day of his protest, the district collector convened a meeting of the district development committee and issued a notice to meet his demand urgently. Now, there is a ray of hope that a full-fledged bridge will be built to end their travel woes.
“He began to go to school by swimming on June 1,” said P.G. San-thosh, Arjun’s father. “It was planned as a relay protest. Since we got a positive response from the district administration, he called it off for the time being. We are waiting to see the further steps being taken by the authorities,” he said.
Arjun was taught swimming by his father. “He started swimming at 8 am and crossed the distance of three km within 50 minutes,” said Santhosh.
“I chose a different kind of protest as there were no takers for the conventional protests conducted by the villagers in the past. We need the bridge at any cost, and if it doesn’t become a reality, I will start a second round,” said Arjun.
