ITANAGAR, 17 Jun: A team of the Arunachal Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (APSCPCR) which inspected the Oju Mission School in Papu Nallah here on Thursday stated that the school has become inhospitable for the children staying there as the school building is submerged in over a foot of water.
On 16 June, water entered the school’s premises and caused much damage.
The APSCPCR team, including its Chairperson Gumri Ringu, Member Secretary O Lomi and member Ngurang Achung, upon inspection of the school found that slippery mud has entered all areas of the building and some parts of it have been inundated by water upto a metre in height. Upto two feet of silt, mud and gravel have been deposited on the whole school compound, while the drainage and the septic tank are also covered in deep mud deposits, the team said.
It said that excavation/earth-cutting in the hills on the western side of the school led to such damages to the building.
“The excavated mud and gravel have been falling on the stream lying on the western boundary of the school, thereby raising the level of the stream, due to which the school wall, which was originally about 10-12 feet high, is now 4-5 feet high,” the team said.
The school’s staff also informed that muddy water overflowed the wall and entered the school premises. The school wall is damaged due to a landslide caused by earth-cutting, while the staff quarters, toilets, bathroom and the well of the school also suffered damages.
The APSCPCR team also met Oju Welfare Society chairperson Ratan Anyia, who expressed anguish over the situation and informed that it would take months to mend the damages caused to the school property. She added that it would not be possible to run the school at this juncture after the lockdown.
Ringu informed that she has asked the district administration to take stock of the losses and assess the damages incurred at the earliest.