The New Indian Express ·
Threat of flooding during rain persists at Thoothukudi school housing CEO office
THOOTHUKUDI: Despite a state government directive in 2024 to relocate the Chief Educational Officer (CEO) office from the space-constrained S V Government Higher Secondary School campus in Thoothukudi, no action has been taken for the past two years. The campus, which gets submerged during monsoon, also requires measures to drain stagnant rainwater.
Located on the Victoria Extension Road, the school campus lies below the road level and turns into a pool during every northeast monsoon season.
As many as 382 boys and girls from Classes 6 to 12 study on the 3.5-acre campus. The premises also house the CEO office, Thoothukudi District Educational Officer (Secondary) office, District Inspector of Physical Education (DIPE) office, a section of Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), and the Inspector of Matriculation Schools (IMS) office. The campus also serves as a custodian point for conducting examinations for schools across the district.
The school also lacks sanitary facilities, said sources.
Students are either given leave or shifted to nearby schools whenever the campus is inundated with knee-deep rainwater.
During the December 2023 floods, the campus and classrooms were inundated to a height of two feet, damaging several files, records, documents and properties belonging to the CEO office and the school. Sources also pointed out that the school faces space constraints as the CEO office and related administrative functions occupy buildings on the campus.
The School Education Department had directed the district administration to relocate the CEO office to a rented building from the 2024-25 academic year. However, no action has been taken so far.
When contacted, a senior official said the Thoothukudi corporation had dumped gravel to raise the ground. The state government had also sanctioned a maintenance grant of Rs 25 lakh for the school. Since there was no space available to relocate the CEO office, the department has proposed constructing a new building for the CEO office on the same school campus, the officer said.
Speaking to TNIE, another official said the Public Works Department (PWD) had approved the installation of a pumping station to drain stagnant water from the campus. The pumping station would be installed before the onset of the northeast monsoon, the official said.
However, the campus continues to remain below the road level, said a few staff members who frequently visit the school.