TIRUCHY: As part of an ongoing safety drive, the public works department (PWD) and the panchayat department have been instructed to expedite repair or demolition works on over 150 school structures that have been declared unsafe by the school education department in rural Tiruchy.

According to the panchayat department, Tiruchy rural has 889 schools with 1,317 buildings.

Of these, 917 structures have been inspected and re-plastered, while restoration work on 224 more buildings is under way and expected to be completed within a week.

The works in schools functioning under panchayat limits are being handled by block development officers while the PWD undertakes them in the institutions under the direct control of the school education department.

As per consolidated data from the school education department, a total of 68 classrooms, 75 toilets, 25 kitchen sheds, 10 compound walls and five water tanks were found completely destroyed in the schools between March and September 2025.

In Tiruchy education district, 102 classrooms and 80 toilets have been identified for demolition due to severe structural damage. Tiruchy education district comprises both urban and rural areas.

Heeding to the district collector’s instructions following plaster collapse at the Singalanthapuram primary school last month, ceiling assessment and putty works were expedited in rural schools.

Based on recent rainfall patterns, water-logging prone areas around schools have also been identified, officials said. Accordingly, local bodies have been instructed to clear drainage channels and create percolation pits to prevent stagnation, they added.

"Our top priority is student safety. Unsafe buildings are being either repaired or demolished immediately and temporary classrooms have been arranged wherever necessary," a school education department official said.

The story is reported by Pearson Lenekar SR for The New Indian Express