Delhi parents, schools miffed over repeated bomb threats

Anxious parents did not send their children to school after over 48 educational institutions in the national capital received bomb threats on Friday with the school administration also echoing their displeasure over such repeated incidents.

While most institutions remained open after a thorough check confirmed that the premises were safe, the repeated threats have sparked concern among families.

“I did not send my son today. It is not that we are in panic, but after repeated incidents, it feels safer to wait things out,” said Parmita Sharma, a parent whose child studies at Richmond School, Paschim Vihar.

Echoing similar sentiments, Vikram Singh, whose daughter attends Sovereign School in Rohini, said, “Even if nothing serious is found, these emails disturb the mental peace of children and parents. We discussed it in our parent group and many of us decided to skip school for a day,” he said.

Following the threat, schools alerted parents about the threat and conveyed revised timings for the classes. “Dear all, please note that classes for students will commence at 10 am on Friday, July 18. This is because of the ongoing bomb threat received by the school,” stated a message sent to a parent which was accessed by The Tribune.

Speaking about such threats, Dr Alka Kapur, principal of Modern Public School, Shalimar Bagh, said whether hoax or real, the threat is highly distressing for students, parents and the school staff alike.

“These trends are disturbingly similar to the childhood tale of ‘sher aaya, sher aaya’. The more frequently prank threats arise, the less they are perceived as serious. And that is dangerous. If a real threat ever occurs, the risk of people not taking it seriously increases, putting innocent lives at stake,” she mentioned.

Echoing similar views, principal of Richmond Global School, Maupalli Mitra, said: “We received the email at 10:52 pm. Within minutes, the same was forwarded to Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora. After this, a team from the bomb squad checked the premises and cyber experts from the police initiated a probe.”

Calling it a mental pressure for the children as their half-yearly exams are closer, Kishanpreeet, a parent who came to take her child at Hansraj Public School in Punjabi Bagh, said: “This is the fourth or fifth time that such threats have been received. Due to this, children are unable to focus on their exam preparations and parents remain anxious. Some precautions must be taken so that this doesn’t happen again.”

As per the standard operating procedure (SoP) designed by the Directorate of Education (DoE), a four-tier strategy has been formulated focusing on prevention, preparedness, response and recovery in case of threat to educational institutions.