COVID & Baghjan oil blowout: Schools in Tinsukia face uncertain future

TINSUKIA: Though the Education Department has asked teachers of all schools to keep themselves ready to re-join their normal duties from September 1 even as decisions are yet to be taken on the resumption of classes, some schools in Tinsukia district affected by the Baghjan oil blowout are facing unusual difficulties in dealing with the situation other than COVID as the inmates sheltered in these schools have refused to vacate the premises till compensation issues are resolved. As many as 1,670 students are enrolled in these schools which is a serious concern for the guardians about the future of their wards.

The Baghjan blowout has affected either side of Maguri-Motapung Beel. While Baghjan falls under Doomdooma revenue circle, Natangoan-Koliapani comes under Guijan panchayat in Tinsukia revenue circle. On the Baghjan side damage was mostly due to fire and sedimentation of condensate while in Natungaon area it was tremor that resulted from explosion and blowout.

In Baghjan area, the affected families numbering thousands were initially sheltered in nine schools and later on condensed to four schools- Dighaltarang High School amalgamated with ME School, Baghjan Rupkonwar Jatiya Vidyalaya, Dighaltarang Gateline LP School and Bandarkhati High School. Presently only two schools, namely Dighaltarang High School with enrolment of 485 students and Rupkonwar Jatiya Vidyalaya with 140 students have housed affected families as many families moved out of the relief camps phase wise. The fate of these students is now hanging in the balance as the inmates have refused to vacate the school campuses.

Though the number of inmates declined from thousand to hundred, with majority of the women folk preferring to stay in their respective houses after dusk and only to surface during daytime, the schools need thorough facelift both in terms of renovation and sanitization. The inmates not only defecated in an unhealthy manner, but left the school infrastructure shattered.

The situation is worse in Bandarkhati High School where families numbering around 1,600 stayed for over a month after the fire. The headmaster of the school, Gojendra Nath Moran has sought compensation from the district administration. In letters to the Circle Officer and Deputy Commissioner of Tinsukia on June 30, Moran furnished a list of 10 items that needed immediate replacement before commencement of the school, but none of the officials, including the Inspector of Schools, Tinsukia, paid any heed to his request even as more than a month has elapsed. Moran said the administration had dug several sanitation pits in the school campus that had been left exposed, emanating stench in the neighbourhood. An unhygienic condition prevails in the school with broken furniture and window panes and damaged mid-day meal utensils, anguished Moran told this correspondent.

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