The remaining portion of a building of the Ponnara Sreedhar Memorial Government Model Upper Primary School at Muttathara, the walls of which caved in earlier this month, is now standing precariously, posing a threat to the lives of the students here. On Tuesday, the authorities declared a holiday for the school, as they feared that the remaining walls, which are adjacent to the classrooms, might come crashing down in the rain.
On Saturday, a team led by the Assistant Engineer had visited the school to conduct a study and filed a report recommending immediate demolition of the remaining sections.
“As per the report, there are cracks in the remaining pillars and walls. There are chances of it caving in. It recommended the immediate demolition of the building. But none of the officials concerned are ready to collect the report. The only option left might be for the team to submit it through the front office,” says an official.
Demanding action
On Tuesday, parents and teachers of the school met the Deputy Collector and the Corporation Secretary demanding immediate action. “Most of us in the neighbourhood have no other option to get our children educated. The school has a good academic record. But, now we are afraid of sending our children there, due to this dangerous building,” says Nadiya Nazeer, whose son studies in class VII here.
According to Sudarshanan, the headmaster, the school cannot function normally until the building is demolished. “The school has 230 students whose studies are getting affected,” he says. Mayor K. Chandrika says that the whole building cannot be demolished immediately, as the vigilance investigation is about to start.
“We were about to demolish the remaining parts of the building when the Vigilance sought the files regarding this. So, we cannot demolish it now as it will amount to destruction of evidence. I have issued orders for the few precariously hanging parts to be demolished. The rest will have to wait until we get clearance from Vigilance,” she says.
Several students of the school had a lucky escape earlier this month when a wall of the eight-year old building that had two classrooms and a mess caved in, barely an hour after they had left the mess hall after lunch. A four-member committee to probe into the collapse recommended blacklisting of the contractor responsible for the work. Most of the officials connected with the project have now retired from service, according to Corporation officials.
