High-tension wires a threat to 25 government schools in Ambala

Nitish Sharma

Ambala, July 28

The overhead high-tension power lines passing through 25 government schools in the district are posing risk of electrocution. Out of 25 schools, 17 are government primary and middle schools while the remaining are government higher and senior secondary schools.

The shifting of these cables has been a long-pending issue. The Government Primary School in the Dukheri village is one of the schools exposed to these high-tension wires, passing through the school playground. Kesar Singh, in-charge of the school, said, “There are 72 children in the school who are subject to danger. The wires must be shifted at the earliest to avoid any untoward incident.”

District Elementary Education Officer Sudhir Kalra said, “Following the direction received from the directorate, a list of such primary and middle schools was prepared and sent to the directorate for further action. The same list was shared with the UHBVN to get the high-tension wires removed.”

District Education Officer Suresh Kumar said there are eight such higher and senior secondary schools where wires are passing through the school premises, and a list has been sent to the higher authorities for their perusal.

The lists were recently prepared by the Education Department after suo moto cognizance was taken by the Haryana Human Rights Commission.

During the last hearing, which was held earlier this month, the Education Department sought more time to file status report in the case. In a reply submitted before the commission, the department submitted that in March 2013, during a meeting chaired by the CM, it was decided that wherever high-tension power cables are passing through school premises, the Electricity Department would shift them at its own cost by June 15, 2013.

The department further stated that due to the non-shifting of the power lines, the Additional Chief Secretary of the School Education Department has written a DO letter to the Additional Chief Secretary of the Energy Department to chalk out an action plan to resolve the long-pending issue. The next hearing in the matter will be on September 27. The commission has directed the director of secondary education to submit a fresh status report before the next date of hearing.