MADURAI: Around 100 students of Thiruparankundram Panchayat Union Middle School in Chinthamani were forced to attend classes at a nearby community hall on Monday, after sewage water from the Kiruthumal river inundated their school campus.
The incident occurred due to the negligence of Water Resources Department (WRD) officials, who had blocked a sewage channel as part of ongoing bridge construction work near the school. As a result, sewage water overflowed and entered the school premises on Friday evening.
Despite residents alerting civic authorities over the weekend, no action was taken, leaving the campus waterlogged when students arrived for classes on Monday. Teachers initially made students sit in front of a nearby temple, before corporation officials arranged for the community hall to be cleaned and made available for classes.
When contacted, a WRD official admitted that the sewage flow was temporarily blocked for bridge construction, which led to the flooding.
“We have now drained the water from the school campus and will ensure such incidents do not recur,” the official added.