Girl's death electrifies civic house

Girl's death electrifies civic house

MUMBAI, MARCH 30: The task of organising funds for repairs and maintenance of municipal schools of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has always been a daunting for corporators as the concerns of these schools consistently occupied the back burner for budget makers in the recent years.

But the death of 11-year old Suman Santlal Jaswal, allegedly due to electric shock caused by a short circuit in the premises of Municipal Tulsipada School in Bhandup (W) has turned out to be a shocking eye-opener for civic authorities who have been cutting down on expenses in the Education budget to check the burgeoning deficit of the Corporation.

Jaswal, studying in Std III, died on Monday during the recess period, allegedly due to electric shock on the ground floor of the five-storeyed school building. According to local Congress corporator, Suresh Koparkar who raised the matter in a point of order in the civic house today, the student's death could have been averted had the BMC paid heed to his requests (which he has been making for the past 3 years) and allocated funds to repair the school building.

The accident occured when at 3 pm, the girl went to drink water from a small tank installed in the ground floor of the five-storeyed school building. ``Students have to stand on tip-toe to reach the tank as it stands in a pool of water which spreads to the adjacent row of chawls, which is also a part of the school'', Koparkar said. ``When Jaswal reached the spot she fell down unconscious as a live wire that was touching the water around the tanker delivered the shock,'' he said. She was rushed to a nearby hosptial where she succumbed in two hours. ``The cause of death is due to electric shock,'' Koparkar alleged adding that the electric installations in the chawl building of the school were very poor.

However Shiv Sena corporators had a different theory to state for the student's death. Sena corporator, Trishna Vishwasrao said that the girl died due to injuries after hitting a metal rod, after she lost her balance and fell while reaching out for the tank, installed at a height. Though different theories for the cause of death were floated, the house noted that it the accident could have been averted had the civil and electrical works in the school been properly maintained.

The Bhandup police has registered the death as an ``accidental'' one. Post-mortem report is awaited to know the exact cause of death. Koparkar in his point of order held the lackadaisical attitude of the civic administration responsible for the accident. He lambasted the civic administration for its poor response to the matters concerning the municipal schools. He informed the house that the said school building has no toilets on any of the five floors and has only one poorly maintained drinking water facility on the ground floor, where the accident occured. ``For the past seven years, the school has been demanding funds to get the chawl demolished and putting up a proper building in its place'', he added. The school has 2,700 students and 51 teachers who run Hindi, Urdu and Marathi medium classes.

Mayor Hareshwar Patil, the Chairperson of the house in his reply reserved the point of order and instructed the civic administration to prepare a list of municipal schools which require funds for repairs and maintenance. The report on the same should be placed in the house in the April 7, general body meeting. This is perhaps the first time, Patil has declared a definate dead-line for response from the civic administration.