The Bahanaga High School in Balewwswar district, where the bodies of the train accident victims were kept, would undergo transformation under the 5T initiative of the State Government, announced Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday.
The high school along with the primary school located in its premises would be completely demolished. The educational institution would be reconstructed as a model school under the 5T.
After being directed by the Chief Minister, Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena, 5T Secretary VK Pandian and other concerned officials held a meeting with the Baleswar Collector, members of the School Managing Committee, panchayat representatives, teachers and students via videoconferencing to seek their opinion in this regard.
And the demolition work of building of the school started on Friday morning. The process was being carried out in the presence of School Managing Committee members and Works Department officials.
The 65-year-old educational institution is located a few hundred meters away from the Bahanaga Bazar railway station. On the fateful June 2 night, the bodies were kept at the school building temporarily after being recovered from the accident site. Some classrooms and a hall of the school were used to store the bodies.
The students of the school became reluctant to attend classes after the summer vacation as the building had turned into a mortuary-like place a few days ago.
Though Fire Service personnel had cleaned and sanitised the blood-stained rooms, parents of the students were not willing to allow their children to go to the school. The locals alleged that the rooms still had bloodstains at some places.
Before commencement of classes after conclusion of the ongoing summer vacation, awareness programmes would be conducted for the students to eradicate their fear regarding the building. The classes would start after a puja at the school, said a member of the managing committee.