Primary school in Solan on verge of collapse but education dept, PWD pass the buck (original) (raw)

Even as the lives of over 35 students, aged between 3 and 10 years, of Gugga Ghat Primary School in Dharot gram panchayat area in Solan of Himachal Pradesh is at risk with the school building on the verge of collapse, the various departments of the district administration are busy passing the buck on each other.

While the education department said that repair works have to be carried out by the Public Works Department (PWD), the PWD said that once the education department releases funds, a retaining wall can be constructed only after that.

Dayanand, a parent of one of the students and also the member of the School Management Committee (SMC), said that after August 10 rains, a major landslide took place in front of the school building below which lies the PWD road.

“We visited and place and then wrote to the PWD requesting them to put up a retaining wall with immediate effect so that the school building does not collapse. The washroom of the school is now hanging in the air with its bass has slided down recently. No one paid any heed to our request. Then another spell of rain took place a week ago leading to further landslides around the school. After that, the only way to connect to the school is so risky that there is always fear that the children might slip and fall. Cracks have also appeared in some classrooms,” he said, adding that they have been running from one department to another but no one is paying any heed to them.

He added that it was only after Solan Deputy Commissioner Manmohan Sharma’s intervention that that the officials of the education department visited the school on Thursday. However, they said that the PWD is supposed to construct a retaining wall first.

“Though there are four such schools in the area that are facing a similar threat, this one has reached a point where any mishap can take place at any time,” Dayanand said.
Echoing similar sentiments, Kamlesh, sarpanch of Dharot gram panchayat said that they met PWD officials over five times but they are yet to take any action.

When asked, Sanjeev Thakur, Deputy Director of Elementary Education, Solan, said, “We visited the site and made an estimate of around Rs 13 lakh for the construction of the retaining wall and sent the report to the higher authorities. The work can start only after we receive funds. Also, since the PWD is also involved, they ave to first construct a retaining wall up to a certain height and only after that we can start rebuilding on our part.”

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Ravi Bhatti, PWD Executive Engineer, Solan, added that the education department has to submit funds to our department and after that construction of retaining wall can start.

Ajay Yadav, Solan Additional Deputy Commissioner, said, “We have contacted various departments involved in the case and have instructed them to take the matter on priority. The Deputy Director of Elementary Education has assured that iron grills would be put up at the earliest so that no child is at risk. Also the estimates for the construction of the retaining wall to stop the building from any further damage have been sent to the state level and funds are awaited. There is also a provision under the Disaster Management Act, under which we can shift these small children to some other safe place. If required, we will do that too.”