Vadodara boat tragedy: VMC schools declared ‘unsafe’ will reopen today for classes

Speaking to The Indian Express, School Board Chairman Minesh Pandya said: “Classes will resume on Wednesday after the School Board announced holidays for all its 119 civic schools on Monday and Tuesday to inspect 22 schools that were served eviction notices as part of a VMC drive undertaken following the Harni boat capsize incident last month that killed 12 students and two teachers.”

“We held a meeting with the VMC commissioner and officials and were told to avoid using dilapidated and unsafe parts of buildings while classes can continue in parts that are safe… We have conducted an inspection along with the executive engineers of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and will submit our report to the VMC this week.”

“I have also written to the department that a plan to reconstruct these 22 schools should be prepared. Meanwhile, repair work will be undertaken within the next 15 days in those structures that can be salvaged,” he added.

On Saturday, the VMC School Board, after a meeting with Mayor Pinki Soni on seeking “alternate arrangement” for 10,000 affected students, had decided to shut the schools for two days to carry out inspections.

While the schools remained shut on Tuesday, notices pasted by VMC on the structures remained intact. A notice pasted on a school in Sayajigunj read, “This is to state that the Madhavrao Golwalkar Marathi school — parking plus two storeyed structure — located in Sayajigunj, is an extremely old building. On conducting a structural test by the ward office 13, it has been found that the school structure is not technically stable. This notice is to state that no part of the school structure –whether in full or part — should be used. The VMC shall not be responsible in any way if any casualty or damage to property occurs as a result of ignoring this notice.”

VMC Commissioner Dilip Rana denied that the decision to reopen schools in “unstable structures” was a U-turn. “We have asked the School Board to conduct classes in those parts of the structures that are neither dilapidated nor damaged… Not all 22 schools have completely unusable buildings. We will decide what to do with those that are severely damaged.”

After the Harni boat capsize incident, the VMC inspected several public spaces and issued closure notice to five atitigruhs (community halls), the joy train inside Sayajibaug Garden and the boating facility at Sursagar lake, even suspending the license of the boating operator.

The Sayaji Nagar Gruh town hall also received a closure notice owing to shortcomings in its fire safety system but was granted provisional certificate to function.

Rana said, “We have issued notices to those structures that need repairs. This is for safety. Inspections are carried out regularly and action is taken. In the case of Sayaji Nagar Gruh, we closed it for a day and repaired the fire pumping system. It has been reopened with a provisional certificate, as the new rule states that fire water sprinklers have to be installed… It is being done. The Sursagar boating contractor was suspended because the operator continued to operate the facility even after being issued a notice to close down until safety inspection…”

Tourist Officer Ankush Garud, under whom the atithigruhs are run, said that 32 bookings for private functions have been cancelled for March, April and May while bookings until February 28 have been accommodated in alternate locations or in outdoor areas of the atithigruhs.

Garud said, “The five atithigruhs that have been closed are Sardarbaug, Manjalpur, Sayajibaug-3, Premanand in Wadi and Subhanpura… The structures were showing signs of damage, such as falling plasters from the roof and other cracks and crevices. We have been making petitions to the respective ward and zone offices every two or three months.”