In Hisar, 25 govt schools unsafe

Deepender Deswal

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Tribune News Service

Hisar, November 18

Days after a portion of a government school in Satrod village of the district caved in, the education authorities have woken up and directed all government schools to immediately take action and demolish “unsafe” portions.

According to Education Department officials, there are 25 government school buildings in the district with some portions declared condemned following an inspection by the state Public Works Department (Buildings and Roads). Though the authorities claim that the unsafe portions of the buildings are not being used, such buildings pose a threat as students can wander off to unsafe parts in the same complex.

On November 12, a portion of the verandah and a room of Government Girls’ Senior Secondary School in Satrod collapsed. The portion had been declared condemned and fortunately there were no students around when the incident occurred. Virender Singh, sarpanch of Gurana village, where a major portion of government senior secondary school building has been declared condemned and lies abandoned, said they had issued instructions to students to stay away from the damaged portions. The construction of a new school building was in progress, he added.

District education officer Neeta Aggrawal said she had issued directions to all heads of the government schools to submit a report within a week about the unsafe portions, which would be demolished at the earliest.

“I have repeatedly issued directions to the school authorities to report to my office the unsafe portions so that those parts could be demolished, but it’s apparent neglect on their part,” she said, adding that unsafe rooms were not being used to hold classes in any school. 

In some cases, there has been a delay in razing the unsafe portions and building new structures. For instance, the government school building in Shahdwa village was declared unsafe in 2015 but has only recently been destroyed completely for raising a new building. Though a grant of Rs 1.20 crore has been sanctioned for the project, the construction is yet to begin. Shahdwa sarpanch Ashwani Kumar said he failed to understand the reason behind the delay. 

“We had to shift the students to another school last session. The panchayat has taken up the issue with the district administration several times. I heard that the administration has allotted tenders for the work. I will meet the deputy commissioner to raise the issue again,” he stated.

Narrow escape

On November 12, a portion of a government school that had been declared condemned collapsed. Fortunately, there were no students around when the incident occurred.