73 unsafe school buldings to be razed in Noida, but wait for classrooms continues till scrap auctioned

Time of India

5 hours ago

Noida: Seventy-three dilapidated govt primary school buildings—49 of them in Noida and 24 in Ghaziabad—are set to be razed under a statewide drive to identify and rebuild unsafe school buildings.
A letter, issued by the education department last month, said no school will allow students to sit in dilapidated buildings or classrooms.
The directive comes on the heels of the July 25 Rajasthan school building collapse that left seven children dead and 27 injured, some of them critically.
A TOI report on July 12 also flagged how 1,200 students of standards 6 to 8 at a govt-run composite school in Noida's Chhijarsi had to attend classes in open corridors due to space crunch.
You Can Also Check:
Noida AQI
|
Weather in Noida
|
Bank Holidays in Noida
|
Public Holidays in Noida
BSA Noida Rahul Panwar said schools with dilapidated buildings have been identified and are set to be auctioned off. The funds generated from the sale of scrap will be used for the construction of new classrooms.
"Some schools have already got new buildings. The department will soon allot renovated classrooms to other schools too," the official said.
However, principals of some schools that are on the list told TOI they have been waiting for over a year for the auction, and the delay has hit student enrolment.
Principal of a primary school in Malakpur, which is on the list of dilapidated buildings drawn up by the education department, said of its three classrooms, one was in a poor state. "Ceiling plaster is peeling off and might fall on anyone at any time. So, classes are now being conducted in two rooms. Greater Noida Authority assured that a new building would be constructed, but since last year, no work has started," the principal said.
"Recently, the basic education department has set the building up for auction. Once the building is razed, classes will shift to a nearby marriage hall."
At Balla Ke Madya primary school, where at least three classrooms require urgent repair, the wait is on for a bidder who is willing to pay Rs 1.5 lakh for the scraps and debris—a rate fixed by PWD after a visit.
Principal Rakesh Gautam said there have been three rounds of auction already, the last one held three months ago when a villager offered Rs 66,000. "The price is so high that no one agrees to pay. Luckily, in 2024, a private company built two classrooms with CSR funds. But we have 121 students, and two rooms are not enough. Several classes are held under a tin shade now," Gautam said. The school, he said, needs at least three more classrooms to accommodate all students.