Municipality suspects sabotage in collapse of old school building in Eroor

The Hindu

5 days ago

A portion of an old building of Government KMUP School, Eroor, collapsed in heavy rain on Sunday night, averting a potential tragedy since the incident took place at night on a holiday.
However, the Thripunithura municipality suspects it to be an alleged act of sabotage and has demanded a police inquiry. The building, which once served as a kitchen, was no longer in use and had been in a dilapidated state for long. Local residents have been demanding its demolition to avoid a tragedy since it stood on the school campus. Over 200 students from the neighbourhood attend the school.
A meeting chaired by the municipal chairperson and attended by the education standing committee chairperson and municipal engineering wing officials was held on Monday morning to take stock of the situation. Later in the day, the chairperson, education standing committee chairperson, municipal secretary, municipal engineer, and assistant engineer visited the school. The school headmistress and PTA president were also present.
An inspection by the Engineering department and video footage of the said building taken by the school authorities showed that it did not have the kind of damage till before the alleged collapse. This was also vouched for by the headmistress and the PTA president, leading to suspicions of alleged conspiracy for willful sabotage, a statement issued by the municipality said.
'The building is no longer in use and has been marked out for demolition. A contractor has been assigned to do that work. He will demolish the building once he finishes the maintenance works of two other schools that are now under way. Anyway, the building has been isolated and locked with no access to either students or teachers. It has not been issued a fitness certificate either,' said Rema Santhosh, municipal chairperson.
At another meeting later in the afternoon, the headmistress was asked to lodge a petition with the District Police Chief (Kochi City) and the Station House Officer concerned in the wake of suspicions that an alleged conspiracy was hatched to deliberately inflict damage on the building. It was also decided to reinspect the school buildings, which were inspected by the engineering wing ahead of the start of the academic year. The engineering department has also been asked to submit a comprehensive report on the necessary measures to be taken.
The recent incident in which 13-year-old M. Midhun was electrocuted by a low-hanging electric wire over the cycle shed of the Thevalakkara Boys High School in Kollam district has drawn attention to how oversight left school students highly vulnerable to life-threatening incidents. The probability of such incidents increases manifold during heavy rain and wind.
A local resident said that he had made a Facebook post on the threat posed by the old building on August 23, 2024. 'However, the authorities showed scant regard to an issue that exposed students to danger. The protruding iron rods of the old structure still pose a threat,' he said.