31 dilapidated govt school buildings razed in Gzb

GHAZIABAD: The Ghaziabad basic education department, with the help of the public works department (PWD), has completed the demolition of 31 dilapidated government school buildings in the district, officials said on Wednesday. The basic education department identified 33 such buildings in the past nearly two months.

The department has further identified 125 small structures in various schools which are to be assessed for structural safety, the officials said.

The directions for the identification of dilapidated school buildings were given by the UP government days after a roof collapse incident at a cremation ground in Muradnagar on January 3 when 24 people were killed.

“Taking up the seriousness of the issue, we came across 33 different buildings which were in as many schools, but these were old buildings and not used to hold classes. At all the 33 locations, new buildings were constructed but the old ones had also stood. So, with the help of assessment made by the PWD engineers, we got 31 such buildings demolished and also auctioned the debris,” said BB Chaudhary, basic education officer, Ghaziabad.

He said that two remaining structures will also be assessed by the PWD and action will follow.

The district at present has 451 government schools under the basic education department with enrolment of about 85,000 students.

Of late, a few videos and photographs of old structures in some of the schools in Loni and other areas went viral over social media. “Upon this, we received further directions to inquire the issue. Thereafter, we came to know that the videos and pictures showed the old buildings but not the new ones which got constructed,” Chaudhary said.

“We have also identified 125 small structures such as toilets, storerooms, kitchen shed and even extra classrooms. The PWD officials have been asked to assess the condition of these structures and advise suitable action,” the basic education officer said.

The officials of PWD said that their teams helped out the basic education department in review of old buildings and the rest of the structures will also be taken up.

“We surveyed the old buildings on the basis of site inspections where conditions like breaking of plaster, damage to reinforcements, seepage of water and peeling of surface plaster, among others, were checked up. Thereafter, the old buildings surveyed by our teams were recommended for demolition,” said Manish Verma, executive engineer of state PWD.

At all 33 places, new buildings were constructed but the old ones still stood. We demolished them and sold the debris.

BB CHAUDHARY, basic education officer, Ghaziabad