Gone with the wind: The Mithapur Farm Primary School in Patna after the storm. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, May 22: A classroom at Mithapur Farm Primary School, which supposedly accommodates over 1,000 students from three schools, was completely ravaged by the storm on Saturday.

The storm blew away half of the asbestos sheds that act as the roof of the classroom, run under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

Besides, the supporting iron pillars for the sheds have also collapsed, damaging the walls, chairs and desks. Textbooks and official documents including attendance registers have also been damaged during the storm.

Employees present in the classroom during the storm have suffered minor injuries.

“Although the school is closed for summer vacations, we went there for some work on Saturday. We were afraid to step out during the squall. However, the sheds could not withstand the wind and were tossed around like paper sheets. Some pieces of asbestos sheets also fell inside the room leading to complete chaos among employees inside. We thought we would die as the iron pillars on the roof started bending. There were three employees in the classroom at that time and all of them suffered minor injuries,” said Akhilesh Kumar Sinha, the principal of New Sinha Modern Middle School.

Once the storm was over, the principal along with two other teachers came out only to see a devastated structure in front of them. The classroom was filled with water up to knee-level and hanging iron pillars and scattered material lay all around. The area outside the classroom resembled some Hollywood tornado movie with broken pieces of asbestos sheds spread as far as 20-40m. The principal along with two teachers cleared the classroom and its entrance but the damaged walls and the tilted iron pillars still pose a danger.

Three schools, Mithapur Farm Primary School, New Sinha Modern Middle School, Purandharpur and Chandpur Bela Primary School is run in a single classroom on the premises of Mithapur Farm Private School.

“Our lives are at risk in the classroom. Luckily, no student was present. But one can only imagine what would have happened if the classroom was packed with students. The walls of the classroom are damaged and can fall any moment if the government continues to neglect the school. During storms, children prefer to remain inside and if the situation remains the same then someday in some similar situation, the classroom would be completely ravaged endangering innocent lives. Who would be responsible?” asked Akhilesh Prasad, a teacher present in the classroom during the storm.

School employees said students mostly hail from surrounding areas including Mithapur Farm, Purandharpur, New Bengali Tola, Mithapur Bee area and Jakkanpur.

“There are no facilities for drinking water, lavatory, electricity connection or boundary wall. After witnessing the havoc on Saturday, we are not going to risk the lives of our kids by sending them there. Is this what the Nitish Kumar-led government has planned to do with children?” said Shanti Devi, whose granddaughter is a student of the school.

Earlier, The Telegraph had reported the poor condition of these schools on March 15. Sinha said: “After the report appeared in The Telegraph, there were high-level queries about the condition of the school and the existence of three schools in one classroom. The district superintendent of education and the block education officer made queries but nothing positive happened and things are now status quo.”

Anjani Kumar Singh, principal secretary, human resource development department, told The Telegraph: “I will be talking to the district superintendent of education tomorrow regarding a temporary solution for the school. Funds are not a problem. The land is there but we will have to get a no-objection certificate from the agriculture department. We will also ask the department to provide two rooms on the premises which are locked.”