By Paramita Datta
India will fund the full rebuilding of a school in Nepal’s Nuwakot district. This comes after the school’s principal made a quick decision to evacuate the campus just moments before flash floods hit the area.
India’s Ambassador to Nepal, Naveen Srivastava, met with Rajendra Dawadi, who is the principal of Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School in Bidur, on Tuesday and praised his quick thinking during the floods on August 26.
In a post on X, Srivastava said that Dawadi’s choice to ring the school bell and get everyone out likely prevented a much bigger tragedy.
The school, home to more than 1,600 students, was later destroyed by strong floodwaters that ripped through the Trishuli Valley.
How and when the principal helped
Rajendra Dawadi, the principal, has said that he received several warnings about rising floodwaters, including news that water had already flooded the nearby settlement of Betrawati upstream. After getting at least four warnings within just a few minutes, he decided to evacuate the students. He mentioned that he later watched floodwaters swallow a hostel about 100 metres from the river. He told the BBC that he felt he couldn’t wait any longer even if the flood didn’t come, they would only lose one day of classes.
The students were taken to higher ground. Looking back at how close the call was, Dawadi said that a ten-minute delay in his decision could have cost everyone, including him and the students, their lives.
Reflecting on the close call, Dawadi said, “If we had made the decision 10 minutes later, all of us, including the students and me, would not be able to speak to you today.”
India to help with the construction of the school
During Tuesday’s meeting, Srivastava shared India’s decision to support the full reconstruction of Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School in the future.
The school has a long history tied to India-Nepal cooperation. It was first built in the 1950s with India’s help, and its design came from an engineer who had also worked on building the Trishuli Hydropower Plant.