Just days ahead of its inauguration, a portion of the boundary wall of a 5T school in Analapadar village under Mathili block of Odisha caved in on May 29, Sunday. And thus, allegations of substandard work emerged.

As per sources, it's from the last three months that work has been underway at Analapadar government high school to equip it with better infrastructure and lend it a facelift as well. This is being done under the 5T programme at a cost of around Rs 35 lakh.

The inauguration, which was scheduled for May 31, Tuesday, was eagerly awaited by residents of Analapadar and neighbouring villages. Now, they are demanding a high-level probe into the untoward incident and also, severe punishment for all those who were involved in the construction work.  

Though the collapse is being attributed to the recent rains which poured down, the locals have raised concerns about the quality of work that is being done across the district under this initiative of the state government.  

When contacted, Mathili BDO Ashish Kumar Bhoi said it was an old boundary wall. As a new boundary was not sanctioned for the 5T school, they coloured the existing one.

About 20 meters of the boundary wall has been damaged and more of it is likely to collapse, he said and added that he has informed the DRDA about the issue and the expenses incurred in colouring the wall will be recovered.