Paradip: Girls reading at Nolia Sahi Upper Primary School in this port town of Jagatsinghpur district have got their ‘Khusi’ washed away by incessant rains for the last couple of days. ‘Khusi’ incidentally are free sanitary napkins provided to the girls. Stocks which would have lasted for the months have been destroyed after rainwater flooded the school.
Rains lashed this port town Sunday. When teachers and students came to the school Monday they found the entire school flooded with knee-deep water. Even though it was declared a holiday, some of the teachers and students stayed back to inspect the damage caused by the rain water.
It was then that the students discovered the fate of the ‘Khusi’ naps. Also many books, portraits of freedom fighters and documents were damaged after getting soaked. However, the loss of the ‘Khusi’ napkins is indeed a loss for the girls. Most of them do not come from affluent families and for them procuring sanitary pads from shops is an economic burden.
Teachers of the school alleged that the school has been experiencing the same problem during monsoons since 2013. According to them, there is a road in front of the school. A small drain lies between the school boundary wall and the road. The ground level of the school is two feet lower than the road. Hence whenever there is a shower, water enters the school premises.
The school building has been repaired thrice in six years by Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and Paradip Municipality. Government funds to the tune of the Rs 8,00,000 has been spent. But that hasn’t solved the problem.
What has compounded the problem for the school is that Paradip in the last six years have been severely affected by the cyclones – Phailin (2013), Hudhud (2014) and Fani (2019). During all the three cyclones the school building was severely damaged. When Fani hit Odisha, the roof of the old school building was blown away forcing the school management to run classes from three locations.
For some days classes were conducted in the POSCO building here. It was then shifted to the balcony of a liquor shop and finally an open area. ,
The Paradip Municipality however, constructed an asbestos roof and carried out other repairs to the school building spending Rs 2,40,890 in the month of June and July.
It has just been a month since the repair work has been done. But even after that the menace of rain water continues to torment the teachers and students.
When contacted, Jagatsinghpur District education Officer Pratibha Manjari Dash said she is aware that ‘Khusi’ napkins have been destroyed. However, she could not inform whether replacements would be made available for the students.
PNN