Smoke billows out of the school building. (PTI)

Jan. 31: The alumni of the Bengali Higher Secondary School are shocked, shattered and grieving. Already fallen on bad times, the fire appears to be the final nail in the school’s coffin.

“The Prime Minister should be informed immediately, he had donated Rs 5 lakh for the school a few years back. He would definitely come forward to help again,” said Amalendu Guha, a social scientist and alumnus of the school.

Guha, who passed out from the school in 1941, was also the president of its governing body till a year back.

Established in 1936, the school was inaugurated by the then chief commissioner of Assam, Michael Keane, on April 28.

The school was earlier known as Silver Jubilee Anglo Bengali High School. It was established to mark the 25th year of coronation of British Emperor George V. After Independence, the school was renamed the Bengali Higher Secondary School.

Dipankar Banerjee, professor of Gauhati University and a historian, said the school had already fallen on bad times because of bad management.

“The fire has only added to its list of woes,” said Banerjee, whose father was an alumnus of the school. He requested the people to come forward and help the school in its hour of crisis.

Banerjee said till 1970s the school, which was a cultural hot spot, hosted the Bengali Chatra Sanmilani every year. He said the school was the most happening of all institutions for the Bengalis till the seventies. “Famous personalities, including Ambikagiri Rai Choudhury and writer Tara Shankar Banerjee were invited to attend these sessions,” he said.

Former MLA and an alumnus Ajay Dutta said he had rushed to the school as soon he heard about the incident.

“The damage could nearly run into Rs 1 crore. I have urged the school authorities to arrange a public meeting and seek help. We will do what we can on our own,” he said.

The fire destroyed 10 rooms on the first floor of the 61-year-old building. The science laboratories, computers and an examination hall were totally damaged in the fire that broke out around 2pm. “An inquiry should also be conducted to probe the cause of the fire,” Dutta said.

Abhijit Chakraborty, a businessman at Paltan Bazar and an alumnus, said this was the second incident of fire in the school within a month. “I simply fail to understand why no precautionary steps were taken after the previous incident,” he said.

Chakraborty said he and his friends are ready to offer aid to rebuild the damaged portion of the school “but what is the guarantee that there would not be another fire?”

Shankar Ghose, who runs a shop near the school, said the school was in a deplorable state.

Schoolchildren have to walk through knee-deep water during the rainy season to enter the classrooms. “The institution was dying a natural death,” he said.

The school has nearly 250 students and 55 teaching and non-teaching staff.