It may be noted that a school wall collapsed on Friday at Tirunelveli leading to the death of three students, while four others were grievously injured.
The district collector of Pudukottai in Tamil Nadu on Saturday, December 18 ordered the demolition of 100 school buildings in the district as they did not adhere to safety standards. The school education department had sent a communique to the district authorities on the poor conditions of 259 school buildings in the district and higher officials have selected 100 out of them. The 100 selected by higher officials are ordered to be demolished by the district collector.
An official with the higher education department who does not wish to be named told IANS, “We had submitted a list of 259 schools but the district authorities ordered for the demolition of 100 school buildings and the rest have to be repaired.
“The district collector has already passed on the orders to the Public Works Department (PWD) and the District Rural Development Authority (DRDA) for the demolition of the school buildings.
The official also informed that almost all the school buildings that are to be demolished are not in use and classes are being taken at other buildings either on rent or on a makeshift basis till the new buildings are constructed.
It may be noted that a school wall collapsed on Friday at Tirunelveli leading to the death of three students, while four others were grievously injured. A case was registered against Persis Gnanaselvi, the headmistress of the Schaffter Higher Secondary School in Tirunelveli. The four injured students are receiving treatment at Tirunelveli Medical College and Hospital. The British-era school is more than 130 years old, and is a government-aided institution.
At around 11 am when the students had gone to the toilet, one of the covering walls around the urinal fell on the students, crushing them and seriously injuring a few. The deceased were identified as Vishwa Ranjan (Class 8), Anbazhagan (Class 9) and Sudhish (Class 6).
Source: The News Minute