Shepherd saves 21, loses grandson

KOTHAGUDEM: He became a life saviour to many children, but could not save his own grandson. This is the sad story of Barmavat Seethya, a shepherd who saved the lives of 21 children on Tuesday when the ill-fated bus of Dr L V Reddy Memorial School plunged into the Pedavagu stream, killing eight children, at Raghavapuram village near Kothagudem town in Khammam district. His seven-year-old grandson Barmavat Ganesh a LKG student died in the mishap. Seethya was herding sheep on the fateful day, when the bus fell off the bridge. Recognising that the bus belonged to his grandson Ganesh’s school, he rushed to the spot, hoping his grandson was safe. “My fellow shepherd and I were looking after sheep near the stream when we heard a big sound. From a distance we noticed the bus falling into the Pedavagu and jumped into the stream and managed to reach the bus,” said Seethya recalled those fateful moments.Seethya and Laxma broke the window panes of the bus with axes carried by them and entered the bus. What awaited them was horror. In front of them were bodies of children floating. Those who were alive, were screaming for help. Both the driver and the cleaner were in the bus with injuries. “Immediately, we started pulling out the children from the water. We picked up at least 15 children and shifted them outside to top of the bus. I tried to lift another boy and noticed that he was dead. That boy was my grandson,” said a tearful Seethya.A grief stricken Seethya controlled himself and left his grandson’s body in the water and began to save other children who were crying for help. Noticing that some children were dead, the driver and cleaner fled from the spot.Seethya, also a local ward member of Tungaram village of Tekula Banjara Gram Panchayat, seldom goes out for shepherding these days. He felt sorry for not being able to save many children including his grandson. “If at least one more person had assisted me, probably, I could have rescued more children. Further, more water began to stream into the bus. Many children died due to drowning in the stagnated water,” he recollected.