School run from centuries old Nanta Mahal in Kota crying for urgent repair work

Kota (Rajasthan): Class-11 student Alfi couldn’t stop sobbing as she narrated the hazardous conditions of her school being run by the state government from the 18th century Nanta Mahal in Rajasthan’s Kota. Alfi's tears reflected the fear among thousands of students in this coaching hub who are forced to study under risky and hazardous conditions. As many 14 school buildings here need immediate repair work to avoid any untoward incident, while around 700 classrooms in at least 1,057 government schools in the district are in “damaged or ruined” state, officials said.

Moreover, only 26 out of 200 schools in Kota which demanded funds for maintenance have been allotted Rs 2 lakh each under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), the officials said. The worrying facts came to the fore a day after a portion of the Piplodi Government School in Rajasthan’s Jhalawar district collapsed, killing seven children and injuring 27 others.

The Government Senior Secondary School accommodating primary and upper primary sections with around 600 students is being run for decades from the centuries old Nanta Mahal. Following the tragedy in Jhalawar, officials from the PWD, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SMSA) and the education department on Saturday reached the school and surveyed the building. “We study here under constant fear as any portion of the school building may fall and cause injury anytime,” Alfi said.

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Authorisation pending

The balconies and the stone slabs covering them are very old and can cause fatal injuries, she said, expressing fear that an incident like Jhalawar can occur anytime at her school. “Who will be responsible then? The government,” she asked. Narpat Singh Hada, assistant engineer, SMSA, who reached Nanta Mahal on Saturday, said, “The school is not technically safe at all and can face structural failure anytime.” Since Nanta Mahal is presently under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), repair and maintenance work cannot be carried out without its authorisation.

However, the district education department has now directed to shift the school, the process for which is underway,” Hada said. Mohammed Sharif, principal of the school, also admitted that the structure is more than 300 years old and is ruined from both outside and inside.

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Despite sending proposals for funds, maintenance and repair work cannot be carried out as the school management does not have any ownership paper for the structure which is under the ASI at present, Sharif said. Moreover, it is difficult to shift 600 students to another place immediately, he added. Lakhanlal Meena, executive engineer, PWD, said that in compliance with the collector's direction, a team on Saturday visited the school and will submit a report accordingly.

The Government Senior Secondary School at Tirath in Bundi district is facing similar risks, posing serious threats to student safety. The school has around 460 students who study in classrooms where water leaks through the roof during the rainy season. A drain passes through the school ground, which has been covered with stone slabs having large gaps. School principal Mamta Bagdoliya said that water seeps through the walls every rainy season, but the funds sanctioned for repair work fail to meet the requirements.