Clear sky and bright sunshine made mockery of the District Administration’s order of a holiday in the schools in view of rains on Thursday. Paradoxically lives of thousands of the students were put under risk when they attended the schools on Wednesday when a cloud burst like situation had occurred. The meteorological department has warned of very heavy rainfall on Wednesday but the District Administration paid no heed to it.
In comparison, the district administrations of Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar, Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Nainital and Champawat took notice of the warning and announced closure of schools as a pre-emptive measure. Slothful administration of Dehradun however ensured that students were either on way to the school or were there when one of the heaviest rains in recent years lashed the city. Water entered many schools of the city and posed danger to the lives of students in rural areas where seasonal streams created havoc.
In what could be termed as classic example to cover up one mistake by committing another, the district education department of Dehradun on the order of the District Magistrate (DM), announced closure of schools on Thursday though the weathermen had predicted little or no rains on the day.
“It is both laughable and unfortunate to notice that schools remained closed on Thursday when they should have remained shut a day earlier. It is classic example of how system functions. There is no coordination between different agencies in state capital and situation in other parts can be well be understood,’’ said Mayank Rana, a Kargi resident.
When asked the rationale behind keeping the school open on the day when very heavy rains lashed the district and ordering closure when no rain occurred, no government official provided a clear answer. The Chief Education Officer (CEO), S B Joshi however said that from now on block officers would keep a watch on weather reports specific to them and on the orders of the Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) concerned, the Block Education Officers (BEOs) would announce closure of schools.