KALLAKURICHI: The school buildings that were vandalised in the recent riots following the death of a student in Kallakurichi aren’t fit for use, sources in the police and fire departments said on Monday, explaining that the walls have cracks and floors are burnt.
After the riot on July 17, entry to Sakthi Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Kaniyamoor has been restricted as police are conducting an investigation. However, TNIE visited the facility while ministers were conducting an inspection there, and noted that all ground-floor rooms have been completely burnt, with the floors damaged so badly that the tiles crack when one steps on them.
The entire office is black and filled with ashes, and the room opposite it contains partially and fully-burnt records and files. These are certificates of students and teachers, and not one of them has been spared, police pointed out.
The labs in the same block were also damaged by the rioters, and nothing has been left there, said a source from the fire department. “Of the three blocks in the school, the administrative block, which housed the CBSE school (ECR International School), is the worst affected,” a fire services official from Kallakurichi district told TNIE. Just at the entrance of the block lies a toppled and charred car.
“The block that housed the girls’ hostel and some classrooms has cracks in the walls,” the official added. The third block, with the kitchen and boys hostel, was relatively less damaged, but all buildings need immediate repairs so their condition doesn’t deteriorate, the official said. A report regarding this has been sent to the respective departments, said another fire services official.
Police said no furniture is left in the school. “Some furniture was stolen and the rest was burnt. The rioters didn’t even leave the green boards in the classrooms. They also damaged the play area set up for kindergarten and primary students,” a cop said. As per police records, 17 buses, three cars, a tractor and trailer, an earthmover, and more than 30 motorbikes were burnt in the riot.