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| File picture of the college building that collapsed |
Bhubaneswar, Aug. 25: The director of higher education has asked the public works department (PWD) to assess the condition of government college buildings and repair old and dilapidated structures.
The instruction was issued after part of a partially-constructed building on the campus of DD Autonomous College, Keonjhar, collapsed on Friday, injuring five students. The incident took place when some groups of students were chatting near the administrative block.
The first floor, which the PWD had been building since March at an estimated cost of Rs 3.05 crore, suddenly caved in. While five students, including three girls, suffered critical injuries and were hospitalised, 40 others had a narrow escape.
In a letter to the superintending engineers and executive engineers of the roads and buildings division of the PWD, higher education director Gangadhar Mishra has said that in most government colleges, repairs of buildings had not been duly undertaken, leading to their dilapidated and unsafe condition.
“I, therefore, request you to depute your field officers to the government colleges of your jurisdiction to assess the condition of buildings and arrange for immediate repairs. If any building is found dilapidated or unsafe, the principal of the college should be instructed not to hold any class in that building,” the letter reads.
Labelling the Keonjhar incident as an eye-opener, Mishra said a quality control team would visit the spot and based on its report appropriate action would be taken against those involved in carrying out substandard construction work. “The college authorities have already filed an FIR against the contractor. We are now waiting for the technical report to bring the guilty to book,” he said.
The district administration is also expected to conduct an inquiry into the Keonjhar college building incident on Monday.
Sources said three of every 10 government college buildings were unsafe. In June, four blocks of Ekamra College in Bhubaneswar were declared unsafe by the roads and building division. The college authorities were asked not to hold classes in those buildings. The governing body of the college had approached the Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation for renovation (Idco). However, after the extent of damage was assessed, Idco authorities suggested that the structure be demolished entirely and built again.