Govt might rebuild Bahanaga school after teachers, kids refuse to attend

Bhubaneswar: The Balasore district administration might demolish the Bahanaga Nodal High School building and construct a new one after students, parents and teachers refused to go to the school when it reopens after the summer vacation on June 16. The school just 500 metres from the triple train accident site was used as a morgue to keep the bodies of the victims before those were shifted to Bhubaneswar.
Members of the School Management Committee (SMC) said children are scared to enter the building as they believe that it is now haunted. On Thursday, Balasore collector Dattatraya Bhausaheb Shinde appealed to villagers not to spread fear and superstition among students.
“A team of officers visited the school on Wednesday and today also a team of high-level officers, including the district collector went to the school. They listened to the concerns of the school management committee. We are waiting for the reports from our officers and SMC after which the government will take a decision,” said school and mass education secretary S Aswathy.
More than 250 disfigured, limbless and headless bodies recovered from the mangled coaches immediately after the accident were kept in all six classrooms and the school hall. The bodies were also kept on the road leading to the school, giving rise to a depressing scene.
The state government is planning to send a team for psycho-social counselling of the students and teachers, which will help them in overcoming the impact of the accident, Aswathy said.
Even after the school has been cleaned, students and even teachers are in a state of fear and not ready to enter the premises. “The disturbing sight of bodies lying in the school building and the wailing of relatives, who came to find their loved ones and found their bodies will haunt us for days to come. It had a negative impact on young minds, for which we are requesting the government to demolish the classrooms where the bodies were kept and construct new ones,” said Pramila Swain, headmaster of the school.
Balasore collector Shinde after visiting the school on Thursday said, “The 65-year-old school has been transformed under the 5T scheme and there is a science laboratory in the school to inculcate scientific temper among children. I will request teachers and parents to help the children in forgetting the frightful incident and not to believe in superstitions. The decision of demolishing the school building will be taken on the basis of the SMC resolution”.