ISLAMABAD, Dec 7: It was one fine morning in September this year when Hafiz Mohammad Ali, father of four, got the shock of his life.

On September 26, Ali was watching TV when he came across a ticker that said three students had drowned in the Rawal Dam.

Without imagining that his twin sons, instead of going to their college, had reached the water reservoir, Mr Ali told his wife that parents should take care of their children.

Soon the TV channels mentioned the names of the three students and also said two of the victims were twins.

“I was sure that my sons have drowned but my heart was not ready to accept it. So I rushed to the Islamabad Model College for Boys (IMCB), G-11/1, and straight into the classroom of my sons where the teacher told me that both Mohammad Ali and Gul Sher had not come to school,” he said.

“Later, I came to know that there were many other students who had skipped their classes and gone to Rawal Dam,” he said. A teacher of the school requesting not to be identified said nine students of the college had planned to go to the dam that day.

“In the morning, they left their houses in G-9 and G-10 in school uniforms, did not get into their school bus and reached Aabpara on public transport. From there they hired two taxis to the Rawal Dam on the Banigala side,” he said.

“While swimming, one of the students, Arsalan Saeed, went into the deep water and could not come out. Trying to save him, the three students - Mohammad Ali, Gul Sher and Hazqeel Ahmad - drowned. Six others, Mohammad Usman Islam, Annas Ejaz, Arsalan Saeed, Mohammd Hasan, Adnan and Abdul Hadi, were rescued by the local people,” he said.

Mr Ali while talking to Dawn said most of the students of the class knew that their colleagues were planning to go to the Rawal Dam. On September 26, eight students of the same class remained absent but the teachers and the management of the college did not take any notice.

“Teachers should have asked the students why so many students were absent and then they should have informed their parents,” he said.

“After the incident, the local people recovered the children and informed Rescue 1122. However, as the rescue team did not turn up even after one-and-a-half-hour, the bodies remained lying beside the road,” he said.

“Later, the police shifted the bodies to Polyclinic. When I reached there I was informed that the bodies had been taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims). The Pims administration provided us an ambulance but after leaving the hospital when the driver was told that the bodies would be taken to Gujar Khan, he stopped the ambulance on the road and said he cannot go out of the city. I then arranged a private ambulance and took the bodies to my native village in Gujar Khan,” he said.

Amir Munir, the father of the third drowned student Hazqeel Ahmad, said though he belonged to Sialkot, he buried his son at the H-11 graveyard.

Tayyab Siddique, a relative of one of the deceased students, told Dawn that there was no arrangement at Rawal Dam to save people’s lives or even stop the visitors from going into the water.

“We see on television channels that in developed countries helicopters are used to rescue animals but in the federal capital of Pakistan there is no arrangement to rescue people when they face life threats. Had the boys been shifted to hospital on time, they might be alive today,” he said.

“After every incident, people have to seek help from the Pakistan Navy to recover the body from Rawal Dam,” he said.

“Motorboats can be hired at the Rawal Dam but they do not provide lifejackets to the visitors due to which such incidents cannot be avoided,” he said.

A teacher of 10th class at the IMCB G-11/1 requesting anonymity said it had become a routine that male and female students skip the school.

“After the incident, an inquiry was held to look into the matter. Statements of teachers, students and parents were recorded. The copies of the inquiry report were attached with the attendance registers in which it was stated that the students were absent on that day. After that, the file was closed,” he said.

He was of the view that the police should not allow any student in school uniform to enter parks and other places because most of them reach there after skipping schools.

Mohammad Irshad, the investigation officer of the Secretariat police, said after the incident a report was registered in the daily register which meant it was an accident.

“It is not our job to stop people from swimming. The administration of the dam and other departments should take notice of it. But so far we have not received any complaint from any department regarding such an issue,” he said.

He added that departments did not follow the rules. Despite a ruling by the Supreme Court, all nullahs are still falling into the Rawal Dam.

Prof Waqar Ashraf, the principal of the IMCB, G-11/1, told Dawn that after the incident an inquiry was held but action could not be taken against anyone because it was proved that it was the fault of the students.

“Drivers and conductors of the school buses can keep an eye on the students if they board on the vehicle. But if they do not come to the bus stop, the driver assumes that the students are not coming to school. We don’t have a mechanism to check if any student has left his house for school or not,” he said.

“After the incident, I addressed the students in the morning assembly and told them that they should not make such a programme without informing their parents. We are also counselling the students to avoid such incidents,” he said.

“The district administration should ensure that no one go into the water without having proper arrangements, including lifejackets etc. Law should be made under which students in school uniform should not be allowed in public places,” he said.

When contacted, Chief Commissioner Islamabad Khwaja Jawaad Paul said a number of people had been booked for bathing in the Rawal Dam in violation of the ban.

“Action cannot be taken if people lose their lives. Cases are registered against those who are caught while swimming. According to my information, lifejackets are provided by the boat operators but I will check it again,” he said.