18 teams formed to check stability of school buildings in Tirunelveli

A total of 18 teams comprising officials from Departments of Revenue, Rural Development, Town Panchayats, Municipalities, Education and also from Tirunelveli Corporation have been formed to ensure structural stability of buildings of government and private schools, Collector V Vishnu said on Saturday.

During a meeting, the Collector said the teams would conduct inspections in schools located away from city limits and four other teams would be engaged in the task under Tirunelveli city limits. He also urged need to submit a detailed report after conducting a thorough inspection. On Friday night, school headmaster BV Persis Gnanaselvi, correspondent Selvakumar and building contractor John Kennedy, who were arrested, were produced before J Jayganesh, Judicial Magistrate IV in Tirunelveli and remanded to custody until December 31.

Pettai Inspector of Police M Hariharan on Saturday joined the family of Anbazhagan at Sathyanagar in mourning his death. Anbazhagan, a student of class nine, was one of the victims killed in the wall collapse. Hariharan consoled the grief -stricken family, sources said.

In Madurai, Collector S Aneesh Sekhar convened a meeting and formed special teams comprising assistant engineers from PWD, block wise engineers of Rural Development to ensure stability of school buildings.

Chief Educational Officer R Swaminathan, Madurai District, said of the 24 government high and higher secondary schools, 57 units in buildings including class rooms and toilets were deemed unsafe. “Among 214 primary and middle schools, 315 units in buildings were too old and unsafe,” the CEO said.