Two years on, the restoration of flood-hit schools has remained the least priority with government as only Rs 5 crores have been released against estimated Rs 90 crores projected by the school education department.
Around 1096 buildings of Primary, Middle, High and Higher Secondary schools were damaged during the September 2014 floods that created havoc across valley, however least has been done to renovate the damaged buildings.
“The restoration has been put at the back burner as government didn’t release funds for past two years,” officials said.
They said of the Rs 90 crore projected by the Directorate of School Education Kashmir (DSEK) only Rs 5 crores were released by Government of India out of Prime Minister’s (PM) package for renovation and reconstruction of the flood-affected school buildings in valley.
“Rest the school heads are managing minimal and affordable restoration works out of the local funds which doesn’t suffice the actual needs,” officials said.
Post floods, the Directorate of School Education Kashmir (DSEK) assessed the flood damages and submitted a Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Rs 90 crore to the government.
In Srinagar district, the number of flood-affected schools was 222 including 64 completely damaged buildings which were declared unsafe by the Roads and Buildings department.
The damages to the buildings in Srinagar is worth Rs 22 crore against which the department has released an amount of 1.20 crore under the PM’s package for restoration of 12 flood affected schools.
Of the fully damaged buildings include 427 SarvaShikshaAbhiyan (SSA) primary schools, 48 RashtriyaMadhyamikShikshaAbhiyan (RMSA) middle schools and 20 buildings of High and Higher Secondary schools.
The partially damaged buildings include 481 SSA Primary schools, 49 RMSA Middle schools and 71 High and Higher Secondary schools.
The estimated cost for restoration includes Rs 68.32 crore for SSA schools and 8.97 crore for RMSA schools. “The assessment was done by the team of officials from revenue, R&B and education departments,” officials said.
Following the delay in release of funds the flood-hit schools were declared unsafe for schooling, however the students in most of the places have been accommodated in the same buildings after carrying out some renovation work by the concerned school heads.
“We don’t have any other alternative to accommodate schools. It is not possible to merge the schools everywhere given the limited accommodation for students,” said a school headmaster wishing not to be named.
Besides the schools, September 2014 floods devastated State Institute of Education (SIE) Kashmir and District Institute of Education and Trainings (DIET) Srinagar, however no financial assistance has been provided from the government.
“The ground floor of SIE was fully inundated due to which the whole infrastructure was damaged but no financial assistance was provided by the department,” officials in SIE said, adding that a letter was also submitted to DSEK but there was no response to it. “We had requested for financial assistance but no funds were provided till date.”
Director School Education Kashmir (DSEK) Dr. Shah Faesal, said they have a sent a proposal to Government to release funds for the restoration of the schools. “We are expecting positive developments in future so that the schools are restored,” he said.
Govt puts restoration of flood-hit schools on back burner
