This is the heart-stopping moment children jump over boulders to cross a dangerously flooded stream to go school.

The move was extremely risky as a small slip would have meant a fall into the fast-flowing current below.

While a few children mustered courage to make the leap, many returned home as it was not safe to go to school.

Two months ago, heavy rains washed away a makeshift bridge that connected Bengali and Saryari villages in Chamoli district of Uttakhand, India.

Since then the residents of the Bengali village have to find a way to cross the dangerous stream whenever they have any work outside.

For the children it means making the crossing twice a day or miss school.

A local villager, Mukesh Singh, 32, said: “The children had themselves put a few tree trunks to help them cross the stream. But last week the stream swelled again due to rains and washed away the trunks.”

Swati Bhadauria, the District Magistrate of Chamoli, told local media persons that she had taken note of the plight of the children.

“I have instructed officials to start constructing an alternate bridge immediately,” she said.