Residents blame road expansion work along Coonoor-Mettupalayam Road for school flooding

Residents and activists blame road expansion for flooding at Burliar Primary School, urging National Highways to prevent future inundation.

Residents and activists have laid the blame for rainwater entering a primary school at Burliar, during spells of heavy rain, on the road expansion work along Coonoor-Mettupalayam Road. They have called on the National Highways to take steps to reverse the effects of the construction to prevent future flooding and inundation.

According to the residents, around 30 children are studying in the school, which has been flooded three times in the last year.

N. Kalaivani, headmistress of the Burliar Primary School, told The Hindu during spells of heavy rain, stones, mud and debris get washed into the classrooms. “Presently, we are conducting classes in a residence nearby,” she said, adding that teachers and residents had requested that the school be renovated and that trees surrounding the school be removed to ensure students’ safety.

“Work on removing the trees and also clean-up of the school has already begun,” she said.

A resident said that soil removed from the sides of the road during the road expansion work was being washed into the school, and that the National Highways had failed to implement any measures that would reduce the amount of water being diverted into the school and surrounding areas.

N. Thirumurthy, a local Adivasi rights activist, said that while the road expansion work along the Coonoor-Mettupalayam Road needed to be expedited, infrastructure to divert water away from the school, in the form of stormwater drains and culverts should be strategically placed in the area to prevent future flooding events.