Clearing flooded classrooms part of daily chore

TIRUNELVELI: With rains lashing the district, students of the Government Adi Dravidar Middle School, Muneerpallam now have another task at hand —draining out rain water after each spell, thanks to a leaking roof.Residents of Marutham Nagar in Muneerpallam have submitted a petition to the Adi Dravidar Welfare Officer seeking immediate attention as the children are not able to focus on their studies due to the dilapidated condition of the school building.E Vellapandi of Marutham Nagar said that around 130 Adi Dravidar children from Marutham Nagar, Mullai Nagar and Karungulam areas study in the school. The  building consists of a concrete structure with tile roofing on the northern and southern parts of the building. The tile roof is broken in several places, resulting in leakage during rains and water also seeps through the concrete structure, since the roofing was not done properly, Vellapandi said.“When we climbed over to the roof, we found rain water stagnated there, leading to the seepage,” he said. Following this, villagers petitioned officials for immediate action, he added.When contacted, M Rajasekaran, Superintendent of Adi Dravidar Welfare, said that as soon as the petition was received, the Welfare Officer and Junior Engineer visited the school. “We initiated repair work to the tune of `2 lakh. We also submitted a proposal for `40 lakh for the repair work, he said.