CHENNAI: A 12-year-old student died on the spot after a dilapidated wall at the Government High School in Kondapuram village near RK Pet in Tiruvallur district collapsed on Tuesday. The incident took place when S Mohith, a Class 7 student, was having lunch sitting atop the wall, police said. No other student was injured.
According to the RK Pet police, after completing his half-yearly exam, Mohith climbed atop the wall adjacent to a ramp on the school premises and was having lunch. The wall suddenly collapsed and he got caught under the debris, police said.
Chief Minister MK Stalin, in a statement, said he was deeply saddened by the incident. Offering condolences to the family, he announced a solatium of Rs 3 lakh from the CM’s Public Relief Fund.
Rs 8 lakh was sanctioned for repair works at school, say officials
Following the death, the boy’s family and relatives staged a protest for nearly three hours demanding action against the school authorities, and did not allow the body to be taken for postmortem examination. However, police held talks with them and assured necessary action, following which the body was taken to Tiruttani GH.
Sources in the school said the wall was already in a dilapidated condition and the recent rains had worsened its condition. Tiruttani DSP in-charge Kandan, and revenue officials, including tahsildar in-charge Saraswathi, arrived at the spot. A case has been registered.
When contacted, officials from the School Education Department said that Rs 8 lakh had been sanctioned earlier for carrying out repair works at the school. “We have sought explanations from the headmaster and the teachers concerned. Further action will be taken based on their response and as per the directions of the director of school education,” an official said.
Sources in the department pointed out that although a circular is issued to schools every year ahead of the monsoon, detailing precautionary measures to be taken, there was no effective mechanism to ensure that the works were actually carried out. Meanwhile, opposition parties condemned the incident and blamed the ruling DMK’s negligence for the boy’s death. AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami blamed the poor maintenance of government school infrastructure for the tragedy.
Accusing the DMK government of spending money on publicity, Palaniswami said, “Had the government spent that money on maintaining the infrastructure of government schools, this tragic loss of life could have been avoided”.
