Wall of Field Ganj school collapses

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 16

A major tragedy was averted when a wall of Government Primary School, Field Ganj, collapsed due to heavy rain in Ludhiana on Monday morning.

It is the same school that grabbed a lot of media attention in the past. The school has been falling to pieces year after year. School Education Minister OP Soni had earlier told The Tribune that they would work out something in favour of students of the school within a month. However, no action has been taken from the minister’s side.

Dawinder Kaur, a teacher at the school, said: ‘The incident occurred around 9:45 am. In view of the heavy rain, we shifted the students to a storeroom. Suddenly, there was a loud thud. As we moved outside, we saw the collapsed wall. We used to take classes here only on a daily basis. There were 11 students today in the class. We were about to put a plastic sheet for students when this happened.”

Ganesh Kumar, an alumnus of the school, said: “Even my bike fell down when the wall collapsed. I used to study in this school 20 years ago. At that time, the school was beautifully built. It had a canteen, several classrooms. But now, it’s sad to see the school in the pitiable state.”

Education Secretary Krishan Kumar had sought a detailed report on the incident from the District Education Officer, Ludhiana.

Meanwhile, the school has temporarily been shifted to Government Primary School, Shahpur Road, which is 500 metres away from the Field Ganj school. Kuldeep Saini, Deputy District Education Officer, said: “The school will be given a temporary classroom at Government Primary School, Shahpur Road. However, we will work out for a separate building for the school soon. There has been no development in the court case for a couple of years. The matter is silent and hence we could not repair the school.”