Following the mishap at Murud-Janjira beach in Alibag near here, in which 14 students of a Pune

college drowned, the Pune education department has issued an order instructing colleges and schools in
Pune district to avoid picnics at coastal beaches, dangerous hill areas, rivers, lakes. It has also listed a
27-point advisory for schools and colleges to follow.
Following the restrictions imposed by the order issued by Pune Deputy Director of Education,
Ramchandra Jadhav, teachers and students are wondering where and how they can go out for picnics.

Picnics should not be organised at coastal beaches, very dangerous hill spots, rivers, lakes, wells,
hillocks, reads the first point in the two-page 27-point advisory issued by Mr Jadhav on February 2.
Citing the Murud mishap, the advisory asks principals of all schools, and managements of junior and
senior colleges to strictly follow the advisory , and instructs education department officials to take an
affidavit from the principal on a Rs 100 bond paper before granting permission for picnics.
The advisory states that before students are taken out on picnics, two trained teachers should collect
information about the location and foresee a possible emergency situation. The institution should also
carry a medical kit, and have information and contact numbers of local doctors and government
hospitals near the picnic spot.
Consent letters should be obtained from parents who should also be made aware of the schedule. State
Transport buses and other government recognised and RTO approved vehicles should be used for
picnics. There should be one teacher for every 10 students. Students should not be allowed to wander off
alone from the picnic spot, says the advisory.
The advisory warns of action against teachers and principals, management officials if mishaps occur due
to negligence of the school or college authorities. If we cannot go to beaches, rivers, lakes, water parks,
then where are we supposed to go for annual picnics? I think it is ridiculous on the part of authorities to
place such restrictions on students and teachers, said 14-year-old Aniket, a student of IES Education.

I think asking schools and colleges to avoid going to beaches, rivers, lakes, hills is overdoing it. The
Murud incident was very tragic, and will remain in public memory for time to come. There is nothing
new in institutions making parents fill consent forms. The truth is parents, teachers, and students all
need to work together, follow precautions and rules to make a picnic safe and successful, Vandana
Patil, an insurance agent from Kharghar with two teenage daughters, told The Hindu.
Arundhati Chavan, a former Bed College principal and now director of SNDTs Distance Learning
programme, said parents too need to shoulder responsibility along with teachers.

My students were grown up, but when we took them to Nehru Science Centre or Aquariums, we found
various schools bringing huge number of students creating chaos. So, institutions need to take
appropriate age groups to appropriate places, Ms Chavan said.