Defunct gov't primary school in Perambalur district of Tamil Nadu raises concerns. Here’s why

Residents are worried that a defunct government primary school in K Eraiyur village of Perambalur district in Tamil Nadu is being turned into an open toilet and liquor tent for locals. A panchayat union primary school has been functioning in K Eraiyur in Perambalur block since 1955. This school building was built during the time of former Chief Minister K Kamaraj.

About eight years ago, the school was upgraded to a middle school. Following this, the school is functioning at another location in the same village. The village library was temporarily shifted to this building and was functioning. Later, this library was shifted to another place due to a lack of adequate maintenance of the building a few years ago, stated a report by The New Indian Express.

After this, the tiled roof and many places of this building were damaged by monkeys and left unmaintained. Due to this, many people here reportedly engage in activities like urination, defecation and drinking liquor in the building at night. This leads to a foul smell around the building. Residents filed a petition about this to the Chief Minister's special cell. After which, officials who promised to take action have not taken any action yet, people said

Speaking to TNIE, R Varadharajan, a resident of K Eraiyur said, "As this school building is located in the middle of the village, the bad activities that happen here irritate everyone. I studied at this school. Doing bad activities in school like this makes me very sad. This school is surrounded by houses, a temple and a ration shop. Residents are suffering due to the stench from the building." "The building of this school is very good but the tiles are damaged. So the authorities should come forward to fix it or demolish it," he added. 

Another 34-year-old resident who did not wish to be named said, "A few locals come here only at night and do these bad activities. We also tried to stop this but could not. Constant consuming liquor and defecation here make us reluctant to visit this area during the night. This should be stopped immediately. Demolish this damaged building and bring some other useful building here." When contacted, Perambalur Block Development Officer L Stanley said, "We sent a proposal to our senior officer to demolish it. We will demolish it within 10 days," as reported by The New Indian Express.