by Mayukh Goswami
Mangaldai:The earthquake of moderate intensity in the Richter scale which rocked Assam at around 10-30 am on Monday has caused severe damage to a school building reportedly constructed from Rastriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhiyan (RMSA) fund and under the technical supervision of state PWD , Building Department . The incident occurred in the classroom of Mangaldai Vidyapith , a high school level institution of co-education located at ward no-
This also caused minor injury to couple of students (boy) of class VIII standard as the bench on which they were sitting while attending the class of English also fell down along with collapsed floor. The injured were immediately offered first aids by the school authority before doctor’s advice . The situation has created a hue and cry among the students and teachers.
Officials and staff of different relevant government agencies including Inspector of Schools , Darrang Nagen Boro, Project Engineer , RMSA, Darrang, Dhrubajyoti Nath have rushed to the school to assess the stock of the situation . Meanwhile talking to the correspondent, Project Engineer , RMSA, Nath informed that the class room with a size of 8 metres by 6.5 metres was constructed along with three other rooms of same sizes in the year 2015-16 under the technical supervision of PWD (Building), Mangaldai Sub Division .
The RMSA sanctioned an amount of Rs 21.89 lakhs for the work , however surprisingly work was allotted to the contractor at around Rs 16.76 lakh nearly twenty four percent below the sanctioned amount . Project Engineer Nath has not ruled out the possibility of collapse of the remaining portion of the floor of the room. Meanwhile Head Mistress of the school Munmuni Dutta has decided to keep the room under lock and key until the reconstruction of the floor to avoid any possible risk for the students . The incident has clearly brought the quality of works of all the school buildings constructed in recent times from the RMSA fund in the district under the scanner .