KOCHI: When the city receives continuous rain for an hour, the plight of the students of SRV Government UP School worsens. Though the 174-year-old school is one of the prominent government schools in the city, waterlogging is a perennial issue the students and teachers face every year. As a solution, the courtyard was raised and tiled but the problem still persists; the first showers of the monsoon resulted in waterlogging in classrooms, libraries, kitchen and other rooms on the ground floor up to the knee level.
The students have been shifted to the high school building for the smooth functioning of classes till the end of monsoon.
"We face this every year and it gets worse by each passing year. So we cannot possibly give holidays when the water enters the rooms. Though it does not rain every day during class hours, the dirt and water due to the previous night's rain should be cleaned before the classes start," said Madhavi Latha, principal of the school.
The school authority claims it is not just the rainwater causing the problem, but also the sewage from drainage canals. "The water from the drains fill the entire area when it rains and the children start playing in that. It is a very unhygienic condition," she said.
For the work of the Metro, the level of the road and the drainage canal passing in front of the school had been raised. The level of the school compound is below that of the drains. Consequently, the water from the compound does not flow to the drainage.
Also, the school's compound wall, which was constructed by DMRC, lacks the opening required for the water to pass through. "We tried creating an outlet for the water to drain out but the level difference between the canal and the school hinders the free flow," said Rajesh, PTA president.
Also, according to school authorities, there have been instances in which the labourers of Metro closed the drainage canals without cleaning it properly. "They once closed the canal without removing the slab that had fallen inside. The waterlogging can be resolved if there is proper connectivity between the canals and waste is properly removed from it," said Rajesh.
Meanwhile, councillor K V P Krishna Kumar said the only solution for this will be reconstructing the building by raising its height. "Since the school compound stands on low-lying ground, the viable solution is renovation. The proposal is in discussion and has been included in the Smart City Mission. If the school is eligible for funds from the General Education Department, it can be realised," he said.