The death of Madhyamik examinee Arjun Das from an elephant attack on Thursday brought into glare the pathetic state of connectivity in his village in Jalpaiguri district and some neighbouring hamlets.

All these villages are located on the fringes of the Baikunthapur forest, a prominent elephant habitat of north Bengal in Rajganj block of the district. Arjun, who was from Maharajghat village, was on his way to his examination centre, which is 28km away, with his father Bishnupada on a motorcycle.

They took a shortcut through a road through the forest to reach the centre on time when they encountered the elephant. Residents of Maharajghat and adjoining areas like Takimari and Milanpally, said 15 to 20 maxi-cabs are available on any given day in their localities.

However, around 500 youngsters from these hamlets study in either of the two high schools— Pachiram Nahata High School, incidentally Arjun’s school, or Kebalpara High School of Belakoba, which was the 15-year-old’s exam centre. Arjun’s school was around 15km away from his home and his Madhyamik exam centre was almost double the distance.

“Maxi-cabs are the only public transport option. Every day, hundreds of students jostle to get a seat in these vehicles and many of them sit on the roofs of the vehicles or hang precariously from the rear. It is completely unsafe but there is no other alternative. We want the administration to introduce buses and more maxi-cabs in our places,” said Bishnupada, Arjun’s bereaved father, who on Saturday performed religious rituals for his deceased son.

All students of Pachiram Nahata High School have to walk 4km every day, pointed out residents. “Arjun would also do the same. This is because the maxi-cabs do not drop them to school. All the students have to walk for 2km to reach the school and then again walk on the same route to reach the stop where they take the cab back to reach their hamlet concerned. All the while, the students travelling precariously in the overcrowded vehicles,” said Prasenjit Roy, a local youth.

He said that villagers had flagged the issue a number of times, but there was no change in the situation. Balaram Roy, a resident of Maharajghat, said that students travelling to Kebalpara in Belakoba have to face the same inconvenience because of the few maxi-cabs available. Students had to stand on the footboards of cabs to reach their schools or wait for several minutes to get the next cab, he said.

“That is why, some guardians who own two-wheelers, drop and pick their wards to and from the school. As it is almost 30km one-way, many of them take the forest road as it reduces the distance to the school by 15km,” said Balaram.

Arjun’s father had done the same on Thursday, with fatal consequences. The villagers also said that their area had around 15 primary schools with 1,500-odd students in all.

“But the nearest high school (Pachiram Nahata) is 15km away. Why can’t the state government set up a high school nearer to the villages?” asked a villager.

After Thursday’s tragedy, the state forest department, the district administration and the police are providing vehicles to Madhyamik examinees living near elephant habitats. They are also escorting the vehicles and have announced similar services for students to appear in higher secondary and madrasa exams.

“Once the exams are over, these services will be withdrawn. Unless the transport facility is improved and steps are taken to open high schools here, this problem will persist in our area,” said Gobinda Roy, a former panchayat member.

“The forest roads have been barricaded to stop us. However, elephants often enter our areas in search of fodder, damaging our crops and even houses. The forest department should set up a camp here to prevent elephant depredation,” said Bimala, Arjun’s grandmother.

Officials of Jalpaiguri district administration, when told about the inadequate transport facilities in the area, said they would look into the issue.

“We will speak with the district transport department soon so that the problem can be resolved,” said Moumita Godara Basu, the district magistrate.

Nabinchandra Adhikary, the regional transport officer of Jalpaiguri, said they would take up necessary steps to improve the situation. “Our officers will visit the area to find out the problems first-hand from villagers. Appropriate steps will be taken to ensure that residents, especially students, get proper transport facilities,” he said.