Govt initiates steps to improve school buildings' safety: Maha Minister

Mumbai, July 17 (IANS) Maharashtra Minister of State for School Education Pankaj Bhoyar on Thursday said that the state government has taken a slew of steps to further improve the safety of school buildings across the state.

He was replying to a half-hour discussion in the state council, and clarified that instructions will be given not to hold classes in buildings found to be dangerous in the structural audit.

He said that emphasis will be placed on demolishing such buildings and constructing new ones, adding that the permission taken by privately managed schools for buildings from the local government bodies will be checked. All schools in the state will be instructed to obtain approved maps.

Minister Bhoyar said that three students died after the roof of a school classroom collapsed in the Ahmednagar district. In this backdrop, a structural audit was conducted of all the Zilla Parishad primary schools in the district. To date, 2,538 classrooms have been de-listed, and the construction of 1,462 new classrooms has been completed. Also, 3,435 classrooms have been repaired.

Giving information about schools in Pune district, he said that out of 368 dilapidated classrooms, 234 classrooms are under construction and Rs 3.5 crore has been spent. A total of Rs 9 crore has been provided for municipal schools in the financial year 2024-25.

Member Amol Mitkari pointed out that adequate infrastructure facilities are still not available in schools in tribal villages. In this context, Minister Bhoyar assured to instruct all education officers to inspect and submit the report to the people's representatives.

As the school buildings are owned by the Zilla Parishad, Municipal Corporation or Municipality, the minister appealed to the local self-government bodies to also take the initiative for school construction.

Meanwhile, Minister of Salt Land Development Bharat Gogawale in the state council said the state government is seriously considering the problems of farmers engaged in agriculture and fisheries in the salt marshes in the Shahapur area of Raigad district, and a concrete decision will be taken by holding a joint meeting of all the concerned departments.

He was speaking while responding to a discussion raised by member Praveen Darekar about the problem in Shahapur in Raigad district during a half-hour discussion.

Stating that the total area of the Motha Pada (Shahapur) scheme is 423 hectares, Minister Gogawale said that out of this, 387.51 hectares of land have been acquired by MIDC. For the last fifteen years, MIDC has acquired land in this area, which has had a direct impact on the agriculture and livelihood of local farmers.

“Due to saltwater entering the agriculture from the creeks, paddy cultivation and fisheries have also been affected. This problem is not limited to Shahapur only, but the situation is similar in the villages on the banks of the creek in the entire Raigad district. Farmers have been devastated. Therefore, this issue is very serious and immediate measures need to be taken. This issue is related to four departments - Industry, Environment, Revenue, Forest and MIDC. Therefore, a meeting of officers of all these departments, local MLAs and farmer representatives will be held soon, and a concrete decision will be taken in the presence of the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister,” he said.

Minister Gogawale said that due to the water in the salt marshes, mangroves have started growing on a large scale, which has caused problems in agriculture. Since mangroves are protected, restrictions of the forest department apply, and farmers cannot cultivate even on their own land.

He added that a meeting will be held to find a solution to this issue.

--IANS

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