PICNIC TURNs DEBACLE: Boy Scouts fetch drinking water in buckets that they have bought to quench their thirst. Water is scarce at the jamboree grounds at Rajarhat and the sanitary conditions are appalling. Picture by Sanat Kumar Sinha

The organisers of The Special National Jamboree of The Bharat Scouts and Guides at Rajarhat were flooded with phone calls on Friday from angry parents, who demanded that their children be sent back.

Following the Metro report on the severe water scarcity at the camp, that had led to disastrous sanitary conditions, participants’ guardians started to call the organisers from early on Friday.

“We got so many phone calls since the morning and most of the parents inquired about their children and the conditions at the camp. We had a tough time,” admitted Siddhartha Mukherjee, Rover’s Scout Leader, one of the senior officials at the camp.

Many parents called from other states, officials said. Several parents from the city visited the camp and wanted their children back.

“After I heard about the sanitation and the water crisis, I asked Joydeep’s parents to bring him back,” said Smritikana Dutta, Scout Joydeep Dutta’s grandmother.

A couple from New Alipore insisted that they take their child back, officials said. But they did not speak of any child leaving the camp.

“Parents are free to come and discuss the problems. The camp is not a lock-up and we are not holding the children back forcefully,” said Mukherjee, adding that the children were having great fun here.

“Parents of those who have come from city schools can bring the principal’s letter and we will let the children leave. We have some security measures here,” said Sanghamitra Chatterjee, state organising commissioner, Guides.

The six-day camp, being held on the centenary of the scouting movement worldwide, started on January 2. About 16,000 children from various parts of the country are attending the camp.

From Day I, there was severe water shortage and the toilets could not be cleaned. On the fourth day, the excreta had piled up in the toilets, making them unusable.

The adjacent stretches are littered with excreta and garbage and the stench is unbearable. The children are using the fields to relieve themselves, which are also getting covered with excreta.

But despite this condition and parents calling in, the authorities are indifferent and the situation is becoming worse. “The toilets are not yet cleaned. The stench is also becoming unbearable. We have to go behind the makeshift toilets to relieve ourselves,” said Swati Dawas, a Class IX student from New Delhi. Some of them are also skipping their bat,h as some of the bathrooms are without any doors.

The officials said such conditions were part of a Scout’s life. “These things happen in camp life. We are not here to give them the comfort of their homes. It is to teach them how to adjust to hardship,” said an official.

The authorities added that the food and water supplies at the camping site are “adequate”, if not “in excess”.

But a few participants at the camp seemed surprised when asked about the drinking water supply. “We are buying all the water in bottles,” a Guide from New Delhi said.