The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Drive to check safety of Corporation schools

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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Drive to check safety of Corporation schools

R. Sujatha and Kannal Achuthan

Vyasarpadi residents seek improvements in school, playground

— FILE PHOTO

PLAY SPACE: The Kalyanapuram – C Corporation School playground is a favourite with the young people in the area.

CHENNAI: Residents of Kalyanapuram – C in Vyasarpadi on Saturday proposed to give a petition to Mayor M. Subramanian requesting improvements in the local school and playground.

The appeal from the residents follows the accident on Friday evening in which five youths of the area were injured when a sunshade of the elementary school fell on them .

The injured were admitted to Government Stanley Hospital in Royapuram. Four of them suffered head injuries and have been transferred to the surgical block from the emergency ward.

Assistance planned

The incident has spurred the Chennai Corporation into action.

All Corporation buildings, including schools and gyms, will be assessed for safety, said Corporation Commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni.

The Pulianthope zone, where the Kalyanapuram school, Vyasarpadi, is located, has 44 Corporation schools. Of these, at least 10 buildings have been found unsafe and in need of strengthening or repairs.

The civic body is yet to decide on the compensation to be given to the injured.

The Corporation Council would discuss the case and decide upon the assistance.

The accident also raised the question of construction quality of the buildings.

The Kalyanapuram school building was only a few years old.

Better amenities

Kalyanapuram residents, most of them daily wage earners in the unorganised sector, recalled that in 2006, the school authorities drew flak when a dead lizard was found in the noon meal cooked in the school kitchen . Over a dozen schoolchildren were admitted to the Stanley hospital then.

Following that incident, the Corporation renovated the kitchen and revamped the playground.

“The playground is very important to us,” said N. Umapathy, who runs SCSTEDS (Slum Children Sports, Talent and Education Development Society), a non-government organisation for underprivileged children there.

Repair works in the playground measuring 45 metre x 85 metre were suspended during the North East monsoon last year and were not taken up later. The playground was originally a low-level area that was raised. The aim was to ensure that the children from the slum were encouraged to participate in sports.

The space should be made safe for the children, Mr. Umapathy said.

Recently, the NGO sought details under the Right to Information Act, and found that though Rs. 5.25 lakh had been allotted for the playground, only Rs. 4.15 lakh had been spent. The expense also included renovation of the school building.

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